


Wreath of Gladiolus

by Deanne Gabriel (youtomyme)



Category: Original Work
Genre: Age Difference, M/M, Romance, Royalty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-17
Updated: 2017-09-17
Packaged: 2018-12-30 20:45:24
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 57,351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12116904
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/youtomyme/pseuds/Deanne%20Gabriel
Summary: When commoner Aurel meets King Garland, it is love at first sight - at least, according to Garland, who immediately proposes marriage to him. King Garland's blue eyes are as innocent as a child's, but Aurel is sure his motives are not, and he's right - in more ways than one.





	1. Chapter 1

The throne room was big and grand, bigger and grander than it needed to be for the fact it only ever had two or three occupants every generations, and particularly for the fact that it was now only used for formalities. Still, although Aurel was not one to be taken by grandeur, he could admit that the room was more than he had envisioned it to be. He had seen it once or twice before on television, yet brief camera footage had never been able to convey its magnificence. He followed close by his father's side, only sparing glances to the side to make sure he didn't jostle the person next to him in his reluctance to lose his father. 

Aurel Hendry had recently reached what the kingdom called 'working age', the age where people were obliged, more by custom than by law, to find occupation, be it as a student or a professional. Much to his mother's dismay, Aurel had pottered through his teen years and entered his twenties without gaining many interests or ambitions. He liked books, and he liked talking to people, and sometimes he wondered if he liked helping his mother to prepare meals and entertain guests. But that was as far as he could come up with in regards to things he liked, so his father Mason Hendry suggested that he work as an intern in the government office Mason worked at to begin his time in the working world. Aurel had agreed immediately, glad to be given something to do, and here he was now, about to see the king in person for the first time.

Not bad for an intern, he thought with amusement. Most of his friends would never get to see anyone more important than their immediate managers in their whole intern life.

The procession stopped in the centre of the throne room and began the tedious process of presenting themselves one by one. It all seemed so unnecessary, Aurel couldn't help but think. Surely the king had better things to do than to be reminded of the names of his civil servants every time they had a report to make? As Mason's colleagues stepped apart from the party to bow, Aurel got his first glimpse of His Majesty King Garland in the flesh.

As one does with bodies of authority unrelated to oneself, Aurel had never really bothered to notice the king any further than to recognise his image. Seeing him now, Aurel was impressed by the rich green robes and the calm, alert expression with which the man surveyed and nodded to each person. He _did_ rather look like a wreath, and Aurel smiled. He liked the lines on his face that gave him such a look of wisdom, and the intelligent expression in those bright blue eyes.

Mason stepped forward with Aurel, both getting down on one knee to bow before King Garland. Aurel raised his head as Mason said, 'Mason Hendry, Your Majesty, and this is my second son, Aurel. He is working as my assistant for a few months, as he has reached working age.'

King Garland gazed at Aurel, and Aurel looked back, feeling apprehensive and slightly confused. The look on the king's face was that of delight and wonderment, as if Aurel was a captivating new species he had never seen before. He rose from his seat and descended from the dais to approach them.

'Aurel,' he said, with a hand outstretched. Aurel stared at it for a moment, not quite believing that he was meant to take it. Hesitatingly, he placed his hand on King Garland's palm, and to his shock, the king kissed it. 'Have we met before?'

'I - I do not believe we have, Y-Your Majesty,' Aurel tried not to mumble in his confusion.

'I feel as if we _must_ have met before, for looking at you now, it is as if I am reunited with an old friend. Or perhaps it was in my dreams that we have met?'

'Perhaps.' Aurel's heart beat very fast, and he wondered where this conversation was going. Everyone in the room was staring at him, even the guards at the door and the courtiers standing around, watching the proceedings.

'I think - and my intuition is seldom wrong - that it would be most unwise if I were to be apart from you from now on. Loveliest Aurel, will you do me the honour of marrying me?'

The room became completely still, but Aurel would not have been aware of it if the Earth had shaken. He could see nothing but the shining blue eyes looking tenderly at him, feeling nothing but the warm, calloused palm holding his, and he said, 'Yes.'

Well, why not?

King Garland urged Aurel to sit with him while the party gave their report, but Aurel politely refused and remained standing by his father's side. That would be too much of a shock too soon. Afterwards though, Garland took Aurel's hand again and promised they would see one another again soon. Aurel felt as if his hand was burning from the heat of Garland's palms, and he smiled at him.

Mason said nothing on the subject throughout the rest of the work day, although he _had_ given Aurel a look of alarm when he said yes. It was not until they got home, and had said hello to Aurel's mother, did Mason turn to him and address the subject.

'Are you sure that you want to do this, Aurel? You were pressed very suddenly. I understand if you didn't mean to say yes.'

Aurel was glad that his father hadn't spoken to him until then, because it had given him time to think on his decision and prepare his answer.

'I'm sure,' he said firmly. 'I can't turn down an opportunity like this.'

'An opportunity to do what?' his mother said.

'Indeed. What exactly do you think you're going to gain from this?' Mason said.

'What happened?'

'The king proposed marriage to Aurel, Amelia.'

' _What_?!'

'Won't it help our family if I'm married to the king?' Aurel said, then wished he had phrased it differently. He sounded like a child seeking assurance.

'We don't need that kind of help!' his mother exclaimed.

'But I think it would have the opposite effect on us if I refused. People would always wonder, and always be surprised that I said no. I think I should do it.'

His father was not the type to argue back when his scolded, so both Mason and Aurel listened in silence as Amelia exploded into angry objections. Mason looked increasingly concerned as her worded protests became more distressed than furious, but Aurel was only gathering assurances for her. 

When she moved to tearful reproaches at both herself and her husband, Aurel finally felt guilty enough to cut in. Alright, perhaps he should have asked Garland to wait a while before he gave his answer, but it wouldn't have changed his mind. The more he thought on it, the more certain he felt of his decision.

'There's no need to worry about me, Mother,' Aurel said, standing up so abruptly that she instantly fell silent. 'Don't blame Father for it, either. This was my decision. I understand what will happen to me, and to us, what will happen if I marry King Garland, and it is what I want.'

'What about Marianne?' his mother said, switching tactic. 'Weren't you courting her? She'll be _heartbroken_ when she finds out.'

'It wasn't serious between us,' Aurel said truthfully. Their relationship had not gone far, or gone on for long. He recognised the unkindness of ending his relationship with her so abruptly, however ... _she_ was the one who had expressed interest in _him_ , and he had already begun wondering whether or not his relationship with her was going anywhere. He had only agreed to go out with her in the first place because he had no reason to refuse. Perhaps it could be said that it was the same situation with him and the king, but there surely existed as many reasons to say yes to Garland as there were to say no.

'What if he's cruel to you?' Amelia persisted. 'What will you do if you want to come home and he doesn't let you?'

'I'm sure that won't happen. I've never heard of him having a cruel or even unkind disposition.' Aurel thought of the gentle look in Garland's eyes when he had looked at him. Aurel might suspect that Garland's motives for marrying were him were not as pure as he made out, yet he was also certain that Garland would not mistreat him. He took in a deep breath. 'Every morning at school, they make pupils swear their loyalty to the king, and I have never sworn loyalty to any other king than King Garland. We are told to believe in his good judgement, and I have thought on the evidence I have and believed in it of my own accord.' This was not _exactly_ true, but it would do for the moment. 'Why should I go against that now?'

'It is not disloyal to the crown to refuse the king's hand in marriage,' Mason said unexpectedly. 'I hope _those_ are not your reasons for agreeing to it, Aurel.'

'What should my reasons for agreeing be?'

'That you believe he will be a good spouse to you.'

'They should be because you love him!' Amelia burst out. 'If he wants to marry you, then he should court you, and make you sure of his love!'

'I believe in that, Father,' Aurel said, turning to him. 'I have no reason to believe he is anything but a kind and fair man. I can put my trust in him.'

'That's good enough for me,' his father said, relaxing with a calmed expression.

'Of course it's good enough for _you_ ,' Amelia snapped. ' _You're_ getting a title out of it!'

'It's good enough for me,' Aurel said. 'And _I'm_ the one getting married.'

She deflated slightly. 'Are you sure you'll be okay, Aurel? Do you think you'll be able to tolerate being married to someone you don't love, or even know at all?'

'I might come to love him in time,' he said as confidently as if the doubts nagging at the back of his mind were completely nonexistent. 'If nothing else, I'm sure I'll live a comfortable life in the castle.'

'Alright then.' She sighed, and pulled him into her arms. 'I suppose you're capable of making your own decisions now, although I don't want to believe it. When did you stop being a boy, Aurel? I didn't even notice.' Aurel patted her shoulder comfortingly in response, and she stepped back. 'Just promise me that you'll tell me if you come up against any problems in your marriage?'

'Of course,' Aurel lied. As much as he loved his mother, it would not be the first truth he had locked away from her to stop her from worrying. And he was confident he could, if he had to, put up with a strained relationship without turning his mother's hairs grey.

Over the next few days, Amelia tried to make him talk about the matter again several times, but always with a sigh and a tone resigned to her son's fate. Mason said little on the matter, and Aurel wondered if he regretted bringing Aurel to the castle now - or if it was quite the opposite. Aurel would not have resented him for it either way. He had not been lying when he said he could not turn down the opportunity, nor did he feel anything more than natural nervousness over his upcoming marriage.

Aurel was not vain, but he suspected he understood the reason King Garland had been attracted to him. Ever since he was a boy, he had been complimented on his loose curls of golden hair, his lightly pinked complexion, and the large hazel eyes that gave his face a touch of femininity. With his slender frame, in a suit, he might have been asking for the attention. Considering this as Garland's sole reason for marrying him did not quite feel right, though. It was not just that Aurel couldn't forget the look of wonder on Garland's face as they had looked at each other for the first time. Rather more rationally, he couldn't fathom that a man who could so easily give in to a passionate impulse to ask a stranger to marry him would have had many such impulses before in his life? How could it be that by the age of 53, a man like that had never before married?

Nathaniel, the first son of the Hendry family, worked away from the city. He came home often though, being as devoted to his family as Aurel was, if in a much more open and forthright way than Aurel. Naturally, he came home a few weeks before the wedding to attend the ceremony and rib his younger brother about this choice of a husband.

'Welcome home, Nathaniel,' Aurel greeted his brother as he came in the door. 'How was your journey?'

'Already practicing the part of a dutiful spouse, Aurel?' Nathaniel grinned. 'I don't suppose you're practicing making tea too?'

'Tea-brewing is a basic skill I have no need to practice,' Aurel said loftily. 'And anyway, the castle has servants for that. But I've made you tea.'

'Thanks.' Nathaniel hung up his coat, then stepped back to survey his brother in a way that made Aurel pause in surprise. 'Are you okay? You know if you wanna say no to him, it's not too late. I'll go with you and kick his ass if he says no.'

'There's no need for that,' Aurel laughed. Knowing Nathaniel, he might just do good on his threats too. 'I don't want to say no.'

'Oh really?' Nathaniel said with a raised eyebrow. 'Those are fighting words, Aurel. That's practically saying you _want_ to marry him.'

'That's right.' Aurel turned and walked to the kitchen. 'I've made up my mind. It'll be fun to be married to the king. I'd be crazy to say no.'

' _Fun_? You'll find it fun to be a sex slave to the king?'

'Don't say that,' Aurel snapped.

'What did he tell you when you met him? That it was love at first sight? Do you really _believe_ that?'

Though Nathaniel's tone was only reproachful and worried, not accusatory, Aurel felt irritated and wished he would leave him alone.

'The matter is between the king and me, and you don't have anything to do with it. Shut up before I throw the teapot in your face.'

To his relief, Nathaniel didn't take it as an insult and ceased his questioning. Aurel was sure he could guess everything that Nathaniel wanted to say anyway. His parents were not as frank as Nathaniel, but the concerns they _did_ voice were clear enough. Aurel knew them all, and his decision remained firm.

-

As it turned out, Aurel’s family were not particularly involved in the preparations for the wedding at all. They were invited to the castle a few days before the wedding so that the castle servants could prepare the family’s ceremonial clothes, and so that Aurel would have time to settle in with his family surrounding him. Whatever the reasons were, Aurel was happy that his family had the chance to experience the luxury. The residential area of the castle was even grander than the parts of it used for official formalities.

King Garland met them in the private foyer with a bright, cheerful smile. Aurel’s heart skipped a beat when he saw him approaching, and not in the way of an admirer. During their first meeting, Aurel had not paid attention to him until he addressed him, and when _that_ happened, Aurel had been too nervous to meet his eye at all. Now that he was prepared, he could look at him with most of his composure intact.

Although King Garland’s age was apparent from his silver hair and beard, there was something boyish about his face and his sky-blue eyes - or perhaps it was just the way he looked at Aurel. He looked excited and happy, every bit the affectionate lover welcoming his beloved into his home at last. Aurel was interested to see that he wore what was apparently a perfectly ordinary suit. A suit that was clearly, at the very least, five times as expensive as Aurel’s own, but Aurel had never seen a picture of him in anything except formal robes. 

‘Good morning.’ King Garland beamed at them all. ‘Welcome to my castle. I will do my very best to make you all comfortable here, so please do not hesitate to speak to me if there is anything I can do for you.’

To Aurel’s extreme irritation, his family not only looked openly nervous and awkward, they did not even bother to smile back. If anything, his mother and brother looked almost distrusting. Fortunately, the king did not appear to notice before he turned and took Aurel’s hands into his own. Aurel started, and could not stop a surprised intake of breath at the sudden touch.

‘Aurel, welcome home,’ King Garland said. His eyes were as deep as the ocean. Aurel wondered if it was only surprise and apprehension that made his heart beat so fast in his chest. ‘Thank you for coming here. You have already made me so happy in agreeing to marry me, and it is my sincerest wish to make you at least twice as happy while you live with me.’

Suddenly, Aurel found that it was not at all difficult to smile back. ‘I look forward to seeing how you intend to fulfil that promise, Your Majesty.’

‘Depend on it, if I fail, it will not be for lack of trying.’ King Garland squeezed his hands softly. ‘Please, do not be reserved in my presence. You must always speak your mind to me. And I would like you to become accustomed to using my name as soon as you can, for I already so carelessly call you by yours.’

‘There is no lack of care in it. I would be far more surprised if you addressed me any other way, Garland.’

The way Garland’s smile brightened even more, the blush that touched his cheeks, and the sudden hint of shyness that touched his eyes, made Aurel sure. He could make a _great_ deal of enjoyment out of their marriage.

'You should be ashamed of yourself,' Nathaniel said to Aurel, once they were settled into a suite. Aurel was to sleep there with them until his and Garland's wedding night, although his things were already being moved to the room he would share with Garland. 'Flirting with him like that! Do you know no decency, child?’

'Is there something wrong with being friendly to my own fiancé?' Aurel said coldly.

'Do you _like_ it, then? Being under the power of the king like how slaves were gifted to rich people in the past? "Your Majesty, with respect, I present to you my own body to do you as you wish -"'

'That's enough, Nathaniel,' their father said abruptly, but Aurel turned on his heels and was out of the door almost before Mason had spoken.

He didn't know the castle, and he didn't know where he could go, but reasoning that it was going to be his home soon enough, Aurel marched off in a random direction. His family was worried about him, he told himself as he walked, turning in and out of corridors and staircases almost without any conscious choices. They didn't see things the way he did. It was nothing to him if Garland felt nothing but desire for him, as long as Garland was fair and gave back as much as he got. Aurel's only intention here was to take the opportunity that had been given him.

'Excuse me,' said a female voice behind him. Aurel turned around to see a woman, probably Garland's age, attired in a heavy, elegant dress and a silk shawl that made him wonder if she was a relative of Garland's, or a peer. 'Would you happen to be Aurel Hendry?'

'Yes, madam,' Aurel replied, wondering if he should bow or something.

'I see. I am the duchess of Maccius, but you can call me Isabella.' She gave him a friendly smile, and he began to relax a little. 'Are you exploring the castle on your own? You should be careful, you know. This castle holds many secrets, and Garland would be so upset if something happened to you.'

'Ah ... I'm sorry. I wanted to get to know the place, and I didn't think Garland would have the time to show me around personally.'

'I'm sure he could make the time if you asked him. If the king can't take a day off, who can? Come, let me take you to him so that the two of you can speak to one another, and you will know how to find his office.'

'Thank you.' He fell in step next to her. They walked on in silence for a while before Aurel found the courage to speak again. 'Are you a personal friend of Garland's, my lady?'

She tutted. 'I thought I told you to call me Isabella? You must not be shy amongst your peers, now that you are to be a prince, Aurel. The nobility must never, ever, doubt their right to do anything they please. Take my advice now, since I know that Garland will be too busy being enchanted by your every word to tell you.'

'Alright then.' Aurel let himself smile at her, and was pleased to realise that he had not even blushed at the thought of Garland's infatuation with him. 'Please continue teaching me the right way to behave as much as you can. I've really seldom been in the company of the aristocracy, or even been exposed to formal occasions very much, to know anything about how I should act.'

'Very well, I will,' Isabella said affably. 'To answer your question, yes, I am an old friend of Garland's. That is, he and I have known each other for a long time. We used to share in one another's company a great deal when we were young adults, and I know him well. Now that my husband has passed away and my son has largely taken over his duties, I've been spending a lot of time here. More of my old friends pass through here than they do Maccius, so I vastly prefer being here.'

'I see.' Aurel thought on these words. He really felt that he was in a whole new world, now when he was speaking to a real live duchess. 'That means that I will have to meet many more of Garland's friends who are of the same station as yourself.'

'That's right, but don't you already go forgetting that you are of an even higher station than them now - or soon will be, but people will already begin calling you "Your Highness" from now on.'

Aurel nodded. Now _that_ was a mortifying thought. It would take a long time to get used to being referred to as a prince.

'May I ask you something, Aurel?' Isabella asked. Aurel gave her an inquisitive look. 'How _did_ you agree to marry Garland? He tells me that the two of you fell in love from the moment you set eyes on one another, but I've long known to never take anything that man says at face value. He is always exaggerating.'

'Then you won't believe me, either, as it is the truth,' Aurel said with a smile to mask his uncertainty. If that was how Garland saw it, then Aurel would go along with it. He could hardly go around telling people that he had agreed to marry Garland because he wanted to be repaid in benefits for his family.

'Is it? Well, of course, you must do as you see fit.'

Aurel understood her meaning. She was doubtful of his professed reasons, and if she knew Garland as well as she appeared to, then perhaps she had already guessed the true reason. Indeed, Aurel was aware that most everyone would suspect the real basis of their marriage, but he wouldn't let that worry him. What did it matter, anyway, what people thought? He would have to check with Garland that it really didn't matter though, before he went on revealing the true reasons to anyone else.

As the king's consort, Aurel would not be allowed to take a single step without his partner's permission, he knew. Well, actually, if his judgement of Garland was correct, then he was quite free to do just about anything he pleased, but he liked to be sure of these things beforehand.

Every corridor they passed through was richly carpeted and beautifully decorated, and the floor of King Garland's office was even more so. There were a few doors here, leading to the offices of his courtiers and advisers, but it was easy to tell which one belonged to the king. It was the biggest and grandest door of all, with engravings picked out in gold leaf. Isabella pushed open the door without preamble, to reveal an intricately-furnished anteroom where a young man, presumably Garland's personal clerk, sat working at a desk. He looked up when they entered.

'Good morning, Your Grace.' The man stood up and bowed. 'Are you here to see His Majesty? I will inform him that you are here.'

'There is no need for that, young man,' Isabella said. 'My companion here is Prince Aurel. _He_ is allowed to see the king whenever it pleases him to, isn't he?'

'Oh, yes.' The clerk blushed with embarrassment, and bowed to Aurel. 'Forgive me, Your Highness, I had not yet seen your face before. I will know in the future, that you are allowed to visit at your leisure.'

Aurel nodded, not knowing what else to say. Isabella smiled at him and waved at the slightly more modest door than the one they had just walked through. 'Go on in. I'm sure Garland will be happy to find the time to lead you back when you are done talking.'

'Alright. Thank you ... Isabella.' 

With a nod, she left the room. Aurel knocked on the door, and without waiting for an answer, his heart beating a mile a minute, he let himself in. 

Garland was leaning back in a beautiful leather chair, perusing a paper, his legs stretched out on the desk. Aurel instinctively frowned at the sight. At least he didn't have his boots on. Garland glanced up with a similar frown when the door opened, which instantly cleared into a beaming smile when he saw Aurel. 

'Aurel, hello,' he said, swinging his legs off the desk. 'Is something the matter?'

'No, I - I only wanted to talk to you,' Aurel said slowly, approaching the desk. 

'But you look worried. Has someone upset you?'

Well, someone had, but Aurel didn't feel like telling him. It wasn't the reason he was frowning anyway. 'No, I just didn't like to see you putting your feet up on the desk. It is unsightly.'

'But there is no one here!' Garland protested. 

'Anyone could come in at any time. They may be supposed to knock, but suppose there was an emergency? You would look so slovenly.'

'Ah, spoken like a truly dutiful spouse.' Garland actually looked quite pleased by the thought. 'I wish I could kiss you for it.'

'You can if you like,' Aurel said, relieved when he didn't stammer or squeak. Garland's grin, if it was possible, became even wider.

'It would not be proper, and I would feel better to wait anyway. Although you _do_ make it so difficult.' 

'I hope you can find it within yourself to bear it a little longer. I have no intention of making it easy for you.' Aurel suddenly remembered Nathaniel's rebuking words, and a wave of irritation washed over him. Why shouldn't he flirt with his fiancé? Especially when his fiancé was the king, and he was unlikely to ever have any other. 

'I am not sure if I can, but I am glad for the challenge,' Garland said happily. 'Will you not sit down? Allow me to call for some tea for you. Or would you prefer coffee?'

'Tea is fine.'

Garland picked up a silver speaking tube on the side of his desk and whistled into it. 'Hansen, do call for a tea tray for Prince Aurel and I. Thank you.'

It was the little things. Every thoughtful gesture Garland showed, even as insignificant as thanking a servant, made Aurel feel more and more certain in him. 

'Was there something you wished to speak to me about?' Garland said as he hung the speaking tube on its hooks again. 'Not that I have any objection to my partner seeking my company whenever he desires it, naturally.'

'I ... well ... I just ...' Aurel tried not to squirm in his seat, especially when he noticed how Garland shifted to a look of concern when he did. 'It's - it's all a bit ... strange, to me, coming here ...' He cleared his throat. 'I am unused to being in the company of the aristocracy or anything as fine and grand as the way things are. Do I - is there ... anything I will have to do, once I am - once we are married?'

'Not a thing,' Garland said immediately. He leaned forward, and Aurel had to let out a very slow breath to restrain himself from leaning back. 'You have free reign of the castle, and may spend your days howsoever you wish. If there is anything my castle is lacking, or anything which you desire to have, then you simply need inform me and I will obtain it for you. Anything at all, my dear Aurel.'

Here, they paused in their conversation as a knock sounded against the door. At Garland's command, Clerk Hansen opened it and pushed a tea trolley inside the office. He unloaded it on the desk, and with a bow to them both, left the office again, closing the door behind him.

'What if what I desire is your company?' Aurel said once he had gone. Despite the way he had reciprocated Garland's flirtations, Aurel blushed when he realised the potential double meaning of his words. 'That is, I am so unused to everything here, but I am a little familiar with you, so your company is more comforting than that of servants who are strangers to me.'

'You are perfectly at liberty to remain by my side as much as you like. As a matter of fact, I have absolutely no objection to you sticking to me at all times if you wanted it.' When Aurel said nothing, turning Garland's words over in his mind, Garland extended his hand across the desk, palm upwards. Aurel hesitated for two seconds, then placed his hand over it. Garland raised Aurel's hand to his lips and kissed it. 'I am the happiest man in the world just to have you sitting across from me like this,' he murmured, his beard brushing against Aurel's skin. It was not an unpleasant sensation. 'Whatever you want, I will give it, if I could only return a little bit of the happiness you have given me.'

'Do you really love me?' Aurel found himself saying in a whisper. 'You don't even know me.'

'I understand if you find it difficult to believe, but I truly do. When our eyes met on that day, I felt as if I had never realised the emptiness in my soul until you filled it.'

'And love is the word you would give to those feelings? Not ...'

'Lust?' Garland said with insight which shouldn't have been as surprising as it was. 'I will not deny that I desire you, but I would love you even if you refused to let me touch you. As long as I can have you here with me, that is enough.' He suddenly let out a laugh. 'No matter if you disbelieve me. Stay with me, and I will prove it to you.'

'I will stay with you, you need not worry about _that_ ,' Aurel said, gently drawing his hand back. 'As long as you treat me with fairness, I will stay.'

'I shall give you more than fairness,' Garland promised. 'Everything you desire will be yours.' He sat back and began to pour the tea.

'There is one thing I must know,' Aurel said as a cup of tea was pushed in his direction. 'If I wish to leave you, will you agree?'

Garland stirred sugar into his tea in silence for a long, long moment. 'I will release you, of course,' he said. 'But if you do not wish to be with me, then you should not have agreed.'

'I am not asking to leave,' Aurel said coldly. 'My parents are concerned about me, and they keep asking what I plan to do if you are unkind to me. May I not give them assurance from yourself that you would release me if I asked for it? I have _just_ promised you that I will stay. Why must you doubt me?'

'Forgive me.' Garland looked taken aback. Then he smiled, the same shy, modest smile from when he had greeted Aurel into the castle. 'Forgive me, Aurel,' he said fervently. 'You are so dear to me that I fear losing you at any moment. Of course if you truly wished it, I would allow you to leave me. I would beg you to change your mind, offer you every material wealth under the sun, but I would allow it if you really wanted it.'

'Thank you. That is all the reassurance I need.' Aurel relaxed. He didn't want to admit it, even to himself, but he felt pleased and touched by Garland's strength of feeling. 'If you will give me anything I want, I promise to give _you_ anything _you_ want from me.'

'Ah, that is a dangerous promise to make, my dear Aurel. I am old, and I have had a great deal of time to nurse my fantasies and allow my imagination to grow.'

'How have you never married before me?' Aurel asked. 'It seems impossible to me that someone who could be so easily taken by someone at first sight would never have felt passion before.'

'Your honesty is so refreshing, my dear,' Garland said with a grin. 'Have I not told you that you filled a void within me the moment I laid eyes on you?'

'You have really never felt that way before?'

'Never. I ... have had lovers, of course, but never anyone I really loved.'

'I see. Well, I suppose I will have time to discover the truth of what you say.'

'You do not believe me?' Garland said, his eyes twinkling with amusement.

'As if anyone could believe _that_!'

'Very well then. I have nothing to hide -'

'I fear I cannot believe that either.'

Garland laughed. 'You will someday, I am sure of it. I will hide nothing and reveal everything, Aurel. As I wish to know you inside out, so I would have you return the favour and know _me_.'

‘So it will be, then,' Aurel said, almost laughing himself. Despite their highly apparent difference in age, talking to Garland felt like talking to a child. He had to constantly adjust his view of the world to understand Garland's, phrasing things in a way he would understand, and it was amusing and endearing too. Surely there was no way a man of Garland's age could really be so naïve and innocent in his passion? He finished his drink and stood up. ‘Thank you for speaking to me, Garland. I feel more at ease now.’

‘Oh, are you leaving?’ Garland looked disappointed.

‘Will you show me the way back to the residences? Then I shall leave you to your work. We will have a great deal more time to speak to one another soon, you know,’ Aurel added with some sternness.

‘Well, yes, of course.’ The king quickly returned to cheerfulness at the placation. He pushed his chair back. ‘Come then, my dear. It will be my pleasure to escort you.’

He offered his arm to Aurel. Aurel paused for a second, then took it. The fabric of Garland’s suit was so fine and beautiful, he could feel it when he touched it, but even more than that, the firm warmth of Garland’s arm, and how close they stood like that, made Aurel blush. Garland smiled at him, kindly and affectionately, and lead him away.


	2. Chapter 2

The next few days were frustrating, but unexpectedly, it was not Aurel's fiancé who tried him the most. When Garland brought Aurel back to the residences, they met Aurel's father three corridors away from the Hendry family's room. A look of relief crossed Mason's face when he saw Aurel, though Aurel did not miss the nervous look he gave Garland. To Aurel's relief, he didn't say anything inappropriate, but when he returned to the family room with Aurel and told them he had found him with Garland, his mother and brother gave him suspicious looks.

He wished they _would_ say something, then. If they would just _tell_ him what dissatisfied them so much, he could at least _try_ to assuage their fears. At one point, he did try to say, 'When I spoke to Garland earlier, he promised that if I asked to leave him, he would allow it.' But the only effect this had was to make Nathaniel scoff at his easy use of Garland's name, and his mother said in a terrible, kindly voice, 'You needn't spend any more time with that man than you wish, Aurel. Just stay with us while you still can.'

It was like he was walking to his death sentence. In his irritation at them, Aurel spent even less time with his family than he acknowledged he should have. The looks they gave him, as if he had some fatal disease no one wanted to talk about him, were simply intolerable, however. He ended up using his free time to explore the castle, one corridor at a time, speaking to its inhabitants whenever he met them - and, of course, with Garland too. It was far too soon to feel so comfortable with him, and perhaps it was only the contrast with the way his _family_ spoke to him, but Aurel really found his company reassuring. Besides, it was _fun_ to speak with him, to flirt with him, and see the measure of just how infatuated he was with Aurel.

Aurel didn't allow himself to see Garland more than twice a day, because Garland tended to drop everything in favour of speaking to him, and as Aurel confirmed with Hansen, he had a great deal more work than he liked Aurel to think. But it seemed to please Garland to think of Aurel as dutiful and responsible too, so it all worked out well. 

'What can I give you for a wedding present, Aurel?' Garland said eagerly. 'You must ask for something. Anything at all.'

'There is nothing I want -' Aurel said with some confusion.

'That cannot be true. Everyone, at any point in time, has something they wish to have. Tell me your heart's desire.'

His true heart's desire was to stop his family from seeing him as a dead man walking, Aurel thought. 'That may be true, but the thing that I want now is something you cannot give me.'

'What is that which you wish for? Tell me. There may be something I can do to help.' When Aurel shook his head, Garland said beseechingly, 'Even if it is only to relieve your heart a little in sharing your thoughts with another. We must have no secrets from one another, Aurel.'

'But I will lose all my appeal if I do not keep some of my air of mystery.'

'My dear Aurel, your allure to me cannot be tarnished. Every new thing I discover about you makes me love you more and more.'

'Only because our relationship is new yet.'

Garland shook his head sadly. Aurel wanted to laugh.

'I fear you will tire of me,' he said, and it was true. If Garland became bored of him, then he might lose all advantage he had levered for himself and his family. 

'That will never happen.'

'It is too easy to say such a thing when love is still new and fresh.'

'You are wise beyond your years, my dear,' Garland said warmly. 'Wiser than I, in matters of the heart. It makes me jealous to think of all the past lovers you must have had to give you such a great understanding of it.'

He meant it, Aurel could see. A slight frown knitted the king's eyebrows. 

'No more than appropriate for a man my age.' Knowing it would please him, Aurel said, 'As a matter of fact, I left my previous sweetheart to be with you.'

'Did you?' Garland took Aurel's hand and kissed it reverently. Aurel strongly suspected that the gesture was a substitute for kissing him directly, a thought that amused him to no end. 'Though I feel sorry to think of how heartbroken they must be, I cannot deny that that pleases me greatly. Allow me to assure you, my dear, that I will love you forever. It pains me to even think of the possibility, but I will promise you now that if I were ever to bore of you, I would not treat you unfairly. You would still be a prince, for as long as you wish, and if you asked to leave me, I would continue to give you anything you asked for. Marrying you does not prohibit me from marrying a woman, so you need not fear that our ties would burden me in that _highly_ unlikely scenario.'

It was news to Aurel that Garland would still be free to marry a woman after marrying him. What surprised him even more was the realisation that the thought did not sit well with him at all. He could not keep his tone even as he said, ' _Are_ you going to marry a woman after me, then?'

'Of course not!' Garland squeezed his hands so tightly, it hurt, but the sensation soothed Aurel. 'You are the only one for me, my dear Aurel. I will never have another.'

'Do you not need an heir? I suppose I cannot object if it becomes a necessity,' Aurel said, finding himself determined to drink the bitter cup of despair to the dregs. 

'No, I do not,' Garland said insistently. 'I have relatives, fine people who will take care of my kingdom after my death. I need never have anyone except you, Aurel. Never fear that my feelings for you will lessen or change. It hurts me to think of you feeling that way.'

'Yes, yes, alright,' Aurel said exasperatedly, pulling his hands away. But he was not at all displeased. 'Garland, there is nothing that I can ask for now, and I can only promise you that I would tell you if anything occurs to me. However, my family - they - they are afraid for me, and worry for me overmuch. It is only natural, you know, that they should be apprehensive of giving my hand in marriage to you, when they do not know you personally. Is there any way that you could alleviate their fears?'

'If there is a way, then I will do it, Aurel. Naturally, I would wish for my future in-laws to think favourably of me. Is there anything you have in mind?'

'My brother works as a farmhand far away from the city, but I know he has always wished to work closer to home. Farming is not what he studied, anyway. He studied veterinary medicine at the university. I - I don't suppose there is anything you could ...'

'Why, that would be the simplest thing in the world, my dear. I will have Hansen arrange the matter as soon as I can. Gifts for all of your family, perhaps - would that be appropriate?'

'Yes!' Aurel said, much relieved that Garland thought nothing of the request. 'It would help so greatly. Thank you, Garland.' He stood up, leaned across the desk, and boldly kissed him on the cheek. It was worth it for the way Garland's face turned a fierce shade of crimson, even as he grinned so widely, the light seemed to reflect off his teeth. 

'For you,' Garland said. Aurel was pleased by the whisper in which he said it, as if Aurel had the power to reduce the king to the image of a stuttering, blushing schoolboy. 'For you, my dear, anything. Anything at all.'

Aurel was not in love with him, he was sure, and it would be a long time yet before he would be, if at all. But he _did_ enjoy Garland's feelings for him, and he _did_ like the things he could do to him. 

_See, Nathaniel_ , he said to himself. _I will find nothing to be upset about in being married to the king._

The days seemed to pass by both too slowly and too quickly. Aurel wanted the wedding to pass by so that his family could leave and stop giving him those pitying and half-guilty looks. At the same time, he didn't want them to leave. As much as he enjoyed being with Garland, he did not find his company reassuring or comfortable enough to be with him without his family in the castle. He knew he would feel impossibly lonely after they left. But he couldn't say _that_ to either of them.

On the day before the wedding, someone knocked on the door of the family suite, and he opened it to see three servants: one who had knocked on the door, and two behind him holding his wedding clothes. Aurel's knees could have gone weak at the sight of the heavy, stately robes he was expected to wear.

'Forgive the intrusion, Your Highness,' the servant at the forefront said. 'May we have your leave to measure you in your wedding clothes so that we can ensure they fit you perfectly tomorrow?'

'Oh. Of course.' Aurel stepped back from the door. His mother and Nathaniel were in the room too, and they stared openly as the servants walked in. 

'Sir, madam,' the servant said gravely, bowing to them. 'There are clothes that have been prepared for you as well, although there is no need for you to try them unless you wish it.'

When they said nothing, to Aurel's exasperation, Aurel said, 'Indeed, there is no need for that. Please come into my room so that I may try my clothes on.'

Afterwards, when the servants had left with promises of coming early the next day to help him prepare, Aurel's mother said, 'It's not too late to back out, Aurel.'

Aurel had to muster up more patience than he knew he had to refrain from glaring at her. 'Mother,' he said in a tone of forced calm, 'I want to marry King Garland.'

'I know why you want to do it,' Nathaniel said. 'It's because you think it'll help us - help the family, right? Well, there's no need for that. It's not like we're drowning in debt or living on the streets. The king can't give us anything we really need or can't get some other way, isn't that right, Mother?' She nodded fervently. 'You don't _want_ to marry the king. You just want what he can give us.'

'You're wrong,' Aurel said flatly, perfectly aware that he was speaking in direct contradiction of the reasons he had always given himself for marrying Garland. 'It's not what he can give you, it's what he can give _me_. Do you think I've been speaking to him every day because he _makes_ me? It's because I _like_ talking to him. If he wants to be with me, then I'm happy to try it out.'

'Do you love him already, Aurel?' his mother said softly. 

'Would it help if I did?'

'No,' Nathaniel said firmly. 'We wouldn't believe you.'

'Then there is no point in my answering that question,' Aurel said coldly. 'I will not withdraw my acceptance of his proposal. I will marry him whatever anyone else will say. And if I change my mind later and leave him, it will not have been a waste. That is all there is to it. I will not consider it again.'

To his relief, that seemed to put an end to the discussion. Aurel hated being at odds with his family, but he didn't want to give up everything that being with Garland would bring him just so he could make peace with them. They were sure to accept it eventually.

He was awoken at seven the next day and immediately kept busy in preparations. There was a strange, sick feeling in his stomach from the moment the servants ushered him to the bathroom. He insisted on washing himself, though. There was no power on Earth that would make him stoop to having another man wash him.

'May I see the king?' Aurel asked when he had stepped out of the bathroom, rubbing a towel through his hair. A valet snatched the towel from his hands.

'I'm afraid not, Your Highness. He is busy in preparations as well, and of course, a couple are not allowed to see one another on their wedding day before the hour they are to be wed. Please do not abuse your hair so, Your Highness.'

Aurel stared at him, but eventually submitted to the servants' ministrations. Not one hour later, he already felt like a piece of cloth stretched out, hot-pressed, and ironed as his hair was combed, his nails manicured, his skin first scrubbed then lathered in oil to smoothen his skin. It was all he could do to not cry out or groan. He wished he had thought to speak to Garland about the wedding the day before, but they had absorbed themselves in talking about the castle gardens, or some other trivial subject.

It was remarkable how easily they got along. It almost made Aurel wonder if there was a grain of truth to what Garland said about him filling some void within Garland's soul.

Did he really believe that Garland would love him forever? Not for an instant. He was sure that Garland would recover from his infatuation soon enough, and the only thing Aurel would have to rely on was Garland's promise of kindness and fair treatment. He wanted to be sure of _that_ , at least.

The only thing that gave him pause, and perhaps just a smidgen of hope, was the fact that he had never heard of Garland having a lover or proposing marriage to another before. Garland _was_ a prince of the kingdom, the only child born to his parents, the previous king and queen of the land, and his past was well-documented. A little too well-documented, as all the time Aurel had spent wading through newspapers and magazines during the last few days to pick up every public bit of info he could discover about him, could attest. Why him? There was nothing special about him. He could hardly be the first good-looking person Garland had ever set his eyes on. Perhaps he had always been successful in hiding his lovers from the public eye in the past, but had become desperate to marry in recent times, causing him to believe himself in love with the first attractive young person he met?

The thoughts chased around in his head as servants ushered him around the castle in preparation. Several times when he was momentarily neglected in order for the servants to confer about some matter or other, he allowed himself a sigh.

He was finally brought to an elegant but small sitting room where the rest of his family stood around awkwardly, already dressed in clothes three times as fine as any of them had ever seen before. They all turned and stared when Aurel came in.

'Why, Aurel, I almost didn't recognise you for a moment,' his mother said, stepping forward and taking his hands. 'You look so fine! How are you feeling?'

'I'm fine.' He smiled at her, painfully aware of how weak it looked. It wasn't because of apprehension, he told himself. He was just tired of being dragged around half the castle to have his hair crimped and his toenails filed, or whatever it was. He even had new underclothes - _more_ underclothes than he knew people were supposed to wear. 

'It's not too late to speak up if you want to change your mind.' Mason was the one who said it this time, in a tone of voice gentler than Aurel had ever heard him use. 

'It will never be too late,' Aurel said firmly, and he drew himself up. 'Now _please_ stop saying that. Aren't you tired of asking? I know _I_ am tired of answering it.'

'We're just worried about you, Aurel,' his mother said, and it showed, starkly. Yes, they were worried, and guilty about letting him enter into marriage with a stranger, Aurel told himself. He couldn't be angry at them for that.

'I don't know what for,' he said. 'Tonight, you will all sit at the head of the table with Garland and I. If you talk to him then, you'll understand why I feel as sure of him as I do.'

'You're asking for a lot,' Nathaniel said. 'As if any of _us_ find it that easy to just pipe up and talk to the king!'

Glad that Nathaniel had recovered from his protectiveness enough to joke with him again as they used to, Aurel's smile strengthened. 'What's the worse that can happen? I'll already be married to him by then, so you don't have to worry about him being put off of me.'

'I'm afraid of _not_ being able to do that,' his brother grinned.

Through his dismay, Aurel found it within himself to laugh. 'Don't you dare!'

'Why not?'

'Because I want to be here.'

Nathaniel rolled his eyes. 'Whatever.'

It was an improvement on nagging.

They stayed there for almost a whole hour, a servant dropping in at one point to serve breakfast. From outside, the sounds of bustle and occupation leaked into the room, and Aurel tried to restrain his restlessness. Strangely enough, he didn't feel nervous. Perhaps he was already done being apprehensive of Garland now that he had spoken to him. Then he remembered his promise to let Garland have whatever he wanted from him, and his heart did a backflip. He sat at the window and frowned at the view outside to hide his face from his family.

The door opened again, and Aurel was surprised and pleased to see that it was Isabella who entered. Her clothes were beautiful and seemed to reflect the light, though there was nothing visibly on her dress that could glitter. They were not half as fine as the clothes his mother had been given though, Aurel realised. Today, the Hendry family had been given places of honour. 

'Good morning,' she said. 'How are you feeling, Aurel?'

'Very well, thank you, Isabella.' He bowed to her, and she laughed at his formality. Feeling that he could speak to her more freely than he could his family, he said, 'A little scared, but that is only natural, is it not?'

'Perfectly so. I would say that Garland is almost beside himself with nervousness too, but I have never seen him so happy. His smile is like the sun.'

'I am impatient to see it,' Aurel smiled.

'I am glad to hear you say that. Will you come with me? I will escort all of you to your places.'

After that, the busyness of the day took over, and things became blurred in Aurel's memory. Fortunately, it did not last long. The one thing that Aurel remembered with complete clarity was the look on Garland's face when he came to stand at his side. It was a look of such fierce happiness that Aurel was glad to stop walking because he could feel his knees threatening to give in if he walked another step.

There was a post-ceremony reception, but by that time, Aurel was too tired to think, let alone stand. He looked around the ballroom, filled with just about everyone who had anything more than 'Mr' to add to their name, it seemed, and made sure that the rest of his family were engaged in talking to someone before he went to look for Garland. He didn't want them to worry again just because he looked a little weary.

He had lost Garland to the crowd at least half an hour ago. It parted for him with many a congratulations and awed look as he made his way through, and fortunately, he was too exhausted to feel too bashful about it. He would get used to it with time though, he realised. Soon he would be as impervious to the common man as Garland had been when he asked Aurel to marry him, never realising that it was almost impossible for Aurel to have said no to him. The thought should have bothered him, but, well, he had always been good at adapting to his surroundings. That was what had enabled him to accept his engagement to Garland so easily.

'My dear Aurel,' Garland greeted him when he saw him approach. The stout man he had been talking to looked around and bowed. Aurel bowed back, though in his mind it was clumsy and surely must have embarrassed him.

'Your Highness, allow me to give you my congratulations,' the man said. 

'Thank you,' Aurel mumbled.

'This is the Marquess of Devereaux, Aurel,' Garland said. 'He is an old friend of mine who has come a long way to see my wedding day.'

'I have waited a long _time_ to see your wedding day,' the Marquess said severely. 'I had given up hope that it would ever happen, though you are so romantic and whimsical in nature. Indeed, it is very characteristic of you to marry a commoner.'

'Love knows no bounds, my friend, not of class or wealth or anything else,' Garland said with a laugh.

The Marquess excused himself, and Aurel walked forward to take Garland's outstretched hand. 'Are there many more of your old friends here today?' he said.

'Yes, many. A king cannot have too many connections, my dear.' Garland gave him a long, loving look. 'Shall we open the dance? It is upon to us to do so.'

'Oh.' Aurel would have frowned, but for the fact that his head hurt. 'Well ... one dance, then.'

'Are you tired?' Garland said anxiously. He cupped Aurel's cheek with his hand and turned his face to him. 'You look pale, Aurel. Forgive me for not noticing earlier. Allow me to escort you to our room so that you may rest.'

'No, we will dance,' Aurel said. 'Then I will retire. We will not neglect our duty on this day, when people are celebrating in our honour.'

'Of course.' Garland had kissed him when they had been wed, and it must have opened some mental gate for him. He kissed Aurel again now, another brief meeting of the lips that nevertheless made Aurel's heart speed up. It was true that Aurel was accustomed to being engaged, and now married, to Garland, but receiving affection from him was another matter. 'May I always rely on you to keep me responsible and dutiful, Aurel? You do it so very well.'

'No. It is as much to say that you will neglect your duties unless I am there, Garland.'

'Oh, no,' Garland said hastily, but Aurel's rebuke didn't appear to have hurt him at all. 'Naturally, I am always endeavouring to be the best ruler I can be, but you are always reminding me when I am neglectful. I am exceedingly grateful to have you, my dear.'

'Better,' Aurel concurred. He took Garland's arm without waiting for Garland to offer it, and they walked to the centre of the room. This time, people bowed as they parted to make way for them, though not all of them equally deeply, Aurel noted. These _were_ the aristocracy, after all, not the common people as Aurel and his family were. 

Perhaps Garland noticed Aurel's expression as they came to a stop. He took Aurel's hand, guiding one to rest against his back, gently holding the other, and said, 'You are taking things better than I hoped. I feared that I had frightened you on that first day we met, for you were so silent and shy, but I see now that that is simply your nature. You are even more extraordinary than I realised before.'

'Well, you are not as fearsome as you seem to hope,' Aurel said. They began to move in time to the music, slowly. Aurel thought it was meant to be only a generic waltz, but it soon became clear that it was much more than that. Garland held onto Aurel and swept him around, for which Aurel was grateful when he came to the realisation that it would be impossible for him to follow the steps himself. During the parts where they had to separate, holding onto one another only by the hand or the arm, Garland took the steps carefully so that Aurel could follow.

'I am glad for that,' Garland said softly. 'I want you to be at ease with me.'

Garland's blue eyes were as innocent a child's, but they seemed to reveal as much as the sky while concealing as much as the sea. An involuntary shiver went through Aurel's body, and an emotion sparked in Garland's eyes. As long as the day had been, it appeared to hold much more for him yet.

'I will take you to our room,' Garland said as the music slowed, and so did their steps. 'You may sleep first if you wish, but may I awaken you when I am ready to retire too?'

'I will stay up for you,' Aurel said, and could not bring his voice above a whisper. Garland smiled, full of promise, and lead him away.

-

Away from the heat and the suffocating crowd, Aurel's body cooled and his head cleared. The bath helped. He leaned back in it, letting the water rise to his chin, and shut his eyes. Soon, Garland would come and ask for his body. The thought made his muscles tense and his skin prickle, even in the almost too-hot water. He had had intimate encounters with other people in the past, but never anything more than clumsy, fumbling touches in the dark, or fondling during a rough and sloppy kiss. Being with Garland would be a first for him. But it wouldn't be a first for Garland, surely? As long as he was not cruel or aggressive, Aurel would tolerate it.

Perhaps he would even find it pleasurable.

Clothes had been laid out for him on the bed. Despite his mental preparations, he was relieved by the fact that they were nothing more revealing than a simple nightshirt. Well, not simple, he realised as he picked it up and saw all the frills. It was extremely light too, and he would have felt cold in it if it weren't for the crackling fire in the room. He put it on, then stood there at the side of the bed for several seconds, feeling the warm air on his bare arms and the gauzy material of the nightshirt on his skin. Then, he crawled underneath the sheets and lay down with his eyes closed, listening to his own heartbeat. 

It was not too long before there was a knock on the door, and Garland entered the room. He locked the door behind him, then, perhaps thinking that Aurel was asleep, went to wash without a word. Only when Aurel heard him exit the bathroom and start donning his clothes did he open his eyes and say, 'Did you leave the party early for my sake?'

'Not earlier than appropriate,' Garland said. He smiled. 'And it could be said that it was more for my sake than yours, so you need not worry.'

'But you will not neglect to tend to me, will you?' Aurel said, closing his eyes again, unable to bear looking at Garland while he said it.

'Of course not. I will not be satisfied unless _you_ are satisfied too.'

Garland had put on the same kind of nightshirt as Aurel, although it was a light blue instead of Aurel's white. He came over to the bed.

'Would you like me to turn the lights off, or would you be alright with keeping them on?' he said. 

'Whichever you prefer,' Aurel said with his eyes still shut.

'I would prefer them on, naturally. I want to be able to see you.'

'Alright.'

He didn't open his eyes until Garland had slipped underneath the sheets and pressed their sides together. Then he turned to look into Garland's bright blue eyes, already darkening with desire, to see the lines on his face and every grey hair of his beard. He shifted onto his side as Garland reached out to touch his face.

'You are so beautiful,' Garland breathed. 'I never thought this day would come again.'

'Again?' Aurel echoed.

Was the half-a-second's pause, the flash of uncertainty in Garland's eyes, only his imagination? Even this close, it was difficult to tell, especially when Garland said, smoothly and self-assuredly, 'The day when I would have someone I desired so much, that merely seeing them close to me makes my heart flutter. Yet, my love for you is a thousand times more than I have ever felt before. Today is completely new to me.'

'You and your elegant words,' Aurel said, letting his eyes half shut as he relaxed into the pillow. 'Now is not the time to speak overmuch.'

'Indeed. Now, my dear Aurel, is the time for action.' 

The hand on Aurel's cheek moved to the back of his head, gently pulling him closer to meet Garland for a kiss. For several seconds, it was nothing more than the touch of lips against lips that their previous kisses had been, and then Garland pressed deeper, his mouth opening to let his tongue seek entrance into Aurel's. Aurel allowed him in, and Garland moved up, his elbows resting on either side of Aurel's body to better explore and taste Aurel's mouth. Aurel felt too shy to do anything more than give him permission, only occasionally moving his tongue to touch Garland's and feel his lips. 

'Oh, Aurel ...' Garland rested his forehead against Aurel's, both of them breathing hard. 'You are exquisite. Will you touch me?'

'Garland ...' Aurel licked his lips, resisting the urge to touch his cheeks where Garland's beard had rubbed against him. His skin felt raw, but curiously, it felt good. 'I ... I have never really ... _been_ with anyone before. You - you must ... teach me ...'

'You are perfect.' Garland kissed him again. 'Truly perfect.'

He lowered one hand to push up the hem of Aurel's nightshirt and touch his thigh. His fingers were cold to Aurel's skin, warmed by the sheets, and Aurel shivered. 

'When I tell you to,' Garland murmured, 'mimic my movements. Slowly.'

His touches were not so slow, however, as his fingertips skimmed Aurel's skin and finally came to a stop against the fabric of Aurel's boxers. Garland lingered there for just a moment, then moved his hand over them to Aurel's waist. Aurel's breath, already heavy, quickened as Garland teased the band of his underwear. 

'It is too soon to ask, but ... will you allow me to penetrate you tonight?' Garland said. 'I - I must ...' He shifted and groaned as his erection brushed against Aurel's leg, while Aurel grit his teeth to make himself stop from cringing away. 'I must feel you. I must get inside you. Please, Aurel.'

'Don't rush,' Aurel said. 'Or there will be nothing to savour later.'

'Still afraid that I will tire of you, my dear?' Garland smiled, though it was so strained it was almost a grimace. 

'You are as eager as a child.' Aurel ran his fingers along Garland's leg, halfway along raising his fingertips so that they only ghosted against Garland's skin. Garland moaned again, arching his groin into Aurel's thigh. 'No rush, my king. I am yours forever for you to do as you please.'

Words were easy in a way that action was not. Garland had asked for Aurel to touch him slowly, and it was not difficult because Aurel's feelings were hesitating. He was barely even hard himself, but when he reached Garland's underwear (for which he was glad; he had had some strange, irrational fear that he would not be wearing anything under his nightshirt), he felt his hardness and splayed his fingers along the fabric that covered Garland's crotch.

'Please, Aurel ...'

'Do you want me to finish you like this?' Aurel stroked his length with his thumb, causing him to emit more little sounds. 'But it would be such a waste.'

'Yes - I mean, no -' Garland took in a deep, steadying breath, surely made all the more difficult by Aurel's insistent touch. Pre-cum was already staining the cloth. Strangely, it was both appealing and repulsive at the same time. Aurel was still unsure about this intimacy, but having the king at his mercy was thrilling. He had known Garland as his king all his life, though he had never given him much thought before, and seeing his ragged breathing and trembling limbs now gave him a sense of power he had never imagined.

'Let us remain face to face,' Garland said at last. He withdrew his hand from underneath Aurel's clothes, and began fingering the hem instead. 'Will you undress for me?'

'You will have to do that yourself, I'm afraid,' Aurel said. He took his hand away from Garland too, then lay back, willing himself to become as limp as a doll. Garland smiled, all the more confident now that he was no longer being tortured by Aurel's touches. He pulled up Aurel's nightshirt with both hands, and Aurel obediently first arched his back, then raised his head so that he could whisk it off completely. 

'So beautiful.' He kissed Aurel for a few seconds, placing his hands on Aurel's shoulders as he did so. His hands were really warm now, and Aurel did not flinch from the touch, though he did not move into Garland's kiss either, except to part his lips and allow his tongue to enter into his mouth. Garland's hands first moved down Aurel's arms, fingers dancing along Aurel's palms, before moving up to his chest again. He fingered Aurel's nipples, but upon finding him largely unresponsive, kept moving downwards. His lips moved down too, to Aurel's neck, and Aurel turned his head to give him better access. It was so peculiar, he thought, that all of Garland's conventional movements did little to arouse him, but the feeling of Garland's beard scraping against his skin made his blood race so fast, it left him light-headed.

'Don't leave a mark where it will be visible,' Aurel only just managed to choke out as Garland's teeth began to worry his neck. He raised his hands to Garland's back and gripped his shirt to steady himself. It was so unfair that Garland was still clothed. 'Not now ... please.'

'I want everyone to know that you are mine,' Garland murmured. His hot breath against the skin that he had made sensitive with his hard kisses almost made Aurel whimper with pleasure. 

'Y-yes, but I don't want m-my family to worry.'

'Thinking of such things when I am doing my best to distract you.' Garland's hands reached the waistband of Aurel's boxers again, and he pressed his fingertips against the inside of Aurel's thigh. 'You are truly such a responsible spouse.'

'It makes you happy, when I speak like that.'

'Naturally.' But he obeyed Aurel's order, and did not use his teeth again until he reached Aurel's collarbone. His fingers tugged at Aurel's boxers, and finding speech beyond him for the moment, Aurel urgently gripped his hand. He lifted his head and looked up at Aurel with alarm.

'Don't try to strip me naked when you haven't taken a single piece of clothing off yet,' Aurel growled, and the expression cleared.

'You had me worried for a moment,' Garland chuckled. He sat up on his heels and removed his nightshirt in a single smooth movement. 'Am I fit to take you now, my prince?'

'Kneel above me,' Aurel commanded. When Garland did so, Aurel reached up and pushed his underwear down and over his buttocks. Garland shook the garment off, and Aurel found himself pausing again at the sight of Garland's heavy cock. It was fortunate he had asked to delay allowing Garland to penetrate him, he thought. He didn't think he could take it without a great deal of early preparation. 

'Now?' Garland said. His voice was pleading, and Aurel let his doubts slide away again with a smile. The king of his country, reduced to begging to be allowed to touch him. Aurel wanted to learn all of the ways to make him desperate. On his knees, looking up at him with those childish blue eyes. The thought made his cock ache.

'Say please.'

Garland closed his eyes as if unable to bear it, and Aurel heard himself snap, 'Open your eyes.' Garland's eyes shot open again in surprise. 'Don't close your eyes. I want to see you look at me.'

'Please, my dearest Aurel,' Garland said, the note of a whine entering his voice.

'How do you want me, my king?'

'I ... I want ... our erections to touch ...'

'Very well then. Lie on your side, and you may unclothe me completely.'

Garland obeyed immediately, a slight tremor in his fingers as he pushed Aurel's boxers down over his legs, and Aurel toed it off. Garland seemed transfixed by the sight of Aurel's length, even though it was not as impressive as his own, Aurel thought. 

'Well?' Aurel said. Garland blinked, and smiled. He moved so that their cocks lay together, the sensation seemingly too much for him as he threw his head back and moaned, even as he held Aurel close with one arm circling him from underneath his body. For Aurel's part, the sight momentarily made him doubt again, but it was erased almost entirely by Garland's reaction.

'Look at my king,' Aurel said, almost without meaning to, his voice hoarse. 'Look at what he has become in his desire for me. The king of my country, yet mine and mine alone.'

'Yours.' Garland's voice was, if possible, even huskier. He pressed their bodies closer, and his hand encircled both their lengths. Aurel paused for a moment, before placing his hand over his. 'I am yours, Aurel. Yours and nobody else's.'

They both groaned as they moved their hands together, Garland kissing him desperately and Aurel kissing back almost equally wantonly. Garland was thrusting against him so hard it hurt, but the pleasure overrode it all. Aurel gasped as Garland squeezed, then climaxed with a cry. He kept thrusting as he orgasmed until Aurel came too, moaning and digging his nails into Garland's bicep as Garland just kept moving against him, as if unable to stop.

After a few moments, his movements slowed, and he released them. They both lay back, breathing hard and spent. Aurel's mind felt so blank that he almost fell asleep, until he moved his feet against Garland's, the sensation enough to jerk him back to wakefulness. He became conscious of the semen covering his body, and felt appalled. 

'Are ... you alright ... Aurel?' Garland whispered, his breath still coming in heavy pants. 

'Yes.' It was all that he could say. 

Aurel was relieved when Garland picked up a hand towel from the bedside table and began to wipe him clean, and he relaxed into the sheets. Fortunately, they had managed to stain the bed very little. 

'You are so perfect,' Garland said when he had finished cleaning up himself as well. He kissed Aurel's cheek. 'My prince. My dear Aurel.'

'My king,' Aurel said, more in acknowledgement of the terms of endearment than in reply. 'Where did you throw my nightshirt?'

'Here.' Garland leaned over him and picked it up from the side of the bed. 'Shall I put it on you?'

'No, thank you.' Aurel took it from him, pulled it on, then lay back again. 'Goodnight, Garland.'

Garland stood up to put out the lights, picking up his own nightshirt as he did so. Aurel closed his eyes against the sight of Garland's naked body, feeling, despite everything, ashamed and embarrassed. Luckily, Garland had his clothes on again by the time he returned to the bed, where he lay down and gathered Aurel into his arms. He kissed Aurel's forehead.

'Don't leave me again, Aurel,' he murmured. 

Too tired to wonder at his meaning, Aurel drifted to sleep, and had forgotten his words entirely in the morning.


	3. Chapter 3

Over the past few days he had been living in the castle, Aurel had gotten over the brief morning confusion of waking up in a bed that was not his own, but when he awoke the next morning, it was the sensation of a body splayed over his that alarmed him. Then he remembered, and the panic subsided, although it could not be said that he relaxed. Garland had one arm around Aurel's waist, his face pressed against Aurel's neck, one leg hooked around Aurel's leg. He was extremely warm and extremely heavy, and his gentle breathing tickled Aurel's skin just enough to make him uncomfortable.

At least, Aurel thought, his body didn't hurt too much in the morning after. Garland had hardly done anything that hurt him after all, but the realisation still came as a relief. He would have to check his neck for marks later, though. He didn't feel any pain there, but it wasn't like he knew how these things worked anyway.

His arm was already half-numb from Garland's weight. With absolutely no consideration for Garland's comfort, Aurel struggled to dislodge it, and Garland awoke.

'Pardon,' he mumbled, rolling off when he became aware of what Aurel was doing. Then he smiled. resting on his side the better to look at Aurel. 'Good morning, my dear. How do you feel today?'

'Not too well, since you were apparently doing your best to paralyse me in your sleep,' Aurel said, flexing some blood back into his arm. He had not woken up in a good mood. 

'I _am_ sorry.' Garland raised himself on his elbow to kiss Aurel's temple. 'I am so happy to have you that I wanted to hold you as close as possible throughout the night.'

'Next time, allow _me_ to the be the one to rest on top of _you_. I am much less likely to crush all the feeling out of your bones.'

'I will, then. Please forgive me, Aurel.'

Garland's tone was so beseeching that Aurel found it within himself to forgive him, although not without a heavy sigh. 'It's alright. What time is it? I should like to have breakfast with my family today, as they will be leaving tomorrow.'

'Half past seven,' Garland said, picking up his wristwatch from the bedside table on his side. 'A little time yet to relax and enjoy one another's company, my dear.'

Aurel didn't say that he was not particularly keen on that idea. The memory of last night still made him flush hot with shame, and he wished now that he had asked for the lights off so that he could remember less of it now. 

'I'm going to have a shower,' he said, tossing the covers off and sitting up. His stomach still felt sticky in places, a discovery that did not help his mood in the slightest.

'May I join you?' Garland said. Aurel narrowed his eyes at him.

'Not today.'

Before he could get off the bed, Garland grabbed his arm and pulled him back into an embrace, eliciting a startled squeak from Aurel. Garland pressed a kiss into the back of his neck and held him tight.

'Aurel,' he said, so softly it was almost inaudible, even in the stillness of the room. 'Are you alright ... with me? You seem upset. Did I hurt you, or make you do anything you did not want to do last night? I would never ask you to do anything that would make you uncomfortable, but you must _tell_ me if it is so.'

Like a child, Aurel thought. Completely oblivious to the reasons Aurel felt so pressured to say yes, it was basically impossible for him to say no.

'I'm fine,' he said. 'You expect me to act as affectionate as you do, when in fact, that is not my character. I will show you the way I feel for you in my own way. Or is that not acceptable to you?'

'Of course it is acceptable to me.' Garland squeezed Aurel's waist, nearly crushing the breath out of him again. 'Thank you for tolerating my feelings for you. Having you with me now at last, I cannot help but wish to spend every moment with you.'

'You will simply have to put up with having me a little less than you would like. But I am still here, after all.' Aurel prised Garland's fingers from his waist. 'Now please let me have my shower.'

When Garland let him go, Aurel turned around and briefly kissed his cheek in placation. The look Garland gave him was so soppy and emotional, he was torn between laughing and rolling his eyes. 

He stopped Garland from kissing him before they parted ways for the day, though. He was already tired of Garland's over-affectionate ways. Aurel had feared Garland tiring of him, but now he almost wished for it so that he could be sure of having a single day's peace in the future. He left quickly afterwards, to avoid seeing Garland's hurt expression. Why did those blue eyes have such an effect on him? 

The Hendrys seemed deep in serious conversation when Aurel came to their suite. They stopped as soon as they noticed Aurel had arrived, but Nathaniel seemed unable to hold himself back from hissing, 'Do you really think we'd _know_ if he felt unhappy?'

'Not talking about me, I hope,' Aurel said cheerfully, knowing full well that they were. 'Did you sleep well? I know I did.'

'Oh really?' Nathaniel said, giving him a scathing look. 'You weren't kept up all night then?'

'Not at all, I slept quite early.' Aurel was conscious of his mother scanning his body as if looking for evidence of his activities the previous night, but he had checked in the mirror after his shower and _knew_ that there was nothing on his skin to give him away. 'Let's have breakfast together. I plan to spend the day with all of you, since you'll be leaving tomorrow.'

'Will you be alright when we go?' his mother said tenderly. 

'I suppose I'll be a little lonely, especially whenever Garland is busy with work, but I'm sure I'll be fine,' he replied, doing his best to smile reassuringly at her.

As they walked to the dining hall, Nathaniel dropped back with Aurel and put his arm around his younger brother's shoulders.

'Alright, I know you don't want to say anything in front of Mother and Father,' he whispered, 'but you can tell _me_ the truth, can't you? Did you sleep with him last night?'

'Of course I did. We share a room and there's only one bed.'

That got him a sharp twist on the ear, and he laughed.

'You know what I mean,' Nathaniel snapped.

'I did,' Aurel admitted. 

' _And_?'

'And what?'

'Did you _like_ it?'

'It was fine.'

'Oh _really_? What did he do to you?'

'Do you want _all_ of the details?' Aurel said sweetly.

Nathaniel pulled a face. 'Probably not. I'm just curious, did he - well, did you let him, you know, bugger you?'

Aurel laughed. He couldn't help it. It was so absurd to be asked such a question by his older brother. 'I wouldn't let him. I'd have to prepare myself for a week before I could take him.'

'I didn't ask,' Nathaniel muttered, turning away in embarrassment.

'Yes, you did. I told him not to rush, or he'd get bored of me, and he settled for just touching.'

'Did you like it?' Nathaniel said again.

'Well, yes,' Aurel said, not stopping to let himself think the question over. 'He was considerate of me, and, well, if it makes you feel better, I'll tell you that I like making him beg.'

'Oh my God.' Nathaniel burst into laughter, and their parents looked around to give them questioning looks. He lowered his voice to say, 'I never would have had you pegged as a kinky bastard, Aurel. Maybe the two of you will be a good match after all.'

'We are the perfect match. When our eyes met on the first day we saw one another, it was like we were two lost halves of the same soul coming together at last.'

'Yeah, you keep telling yourself that,' Nathaniel snorted.

'Well, even if it's not true, I like him just fine,' Aurel conceded. 'I don't care what you think, Nathaniel. I enjoy talking to him, and he is kind to me. Far too kind - I can't believe that it will last forever, but as long as he doesn't neglect me, then I'm fine with however he treats me.'

'Especially if he left you alone entirely, hm?'

'No, I don't want that. What part of "I like him" can you not comprehend, Nathaniel?'

'The part where we're talking about an old king who asked to marry you completely out of the blue?'

'I might not feel for him the way he feels for me, but I am not lying when I say I have a connection with him, either,' Aurel said evenly. 'There's just - there's just something about him that I like, alright? I don't know if I can love him yet, but I know that I won't regret being with him for now.'

'Even though you're both different in so many ways? Doesn't it put you off that he's so old?'

'No.' Aurel gave the matter a few second's thought. 'I think I like it, actually.'

'Oh my God,' Nathaniel said again, throwing his hands in the air. 'I never imagined my little brother was such a weirdo.'

That was as much as Aurel would say on the subject to his brother. To his parents, he said even less, though he chatted freely about other things in an attempt to soothe their worries. He sensed that they felt uncomfortable just staying amidst the luxury of the castle, and he could only hope that they would feel better once they returned home.

Some time after lunch, a servant met them in the gardens where they were having a stroll and asked Aurel if he would see Garland. The break from Garland's company, and enjoying himself being with his family, had refreshed Aurel. He smiled when the servant finished speaking, and said, 'Tell your master I may condescend to go that way when it pleases me.' 

'You seem to be quite comfortable with him already,' Mason said. 

'We have reached an understanding,' Aurel said in agreement, knowing it would relieve his father to hear him say it. He knew it was natural for them to worry about him, but sometimes it offended him to think that they didn't trust him to know and follow his own will. It might be half impossible for him to say no to Garland in some situations, but he had agreed to the overall situation in the first place, and he would stick to it.

Although he had spoken to the servant as if he didn't mean to visit Garland until he had finished his stroll, he broke away from his family only a few minutes afterwards, promising to see them in the suite parlour for tea. He _was_ the dutiful spouse, after all, and responsible young husbands couldn't leave their kings for _too_ long.

When Aurel came to Garland's office, it was to find him doing nothing more than gazing out the window with a serious expression. Aurel suddenly realised that though he had seen that expression often before in photographs and portraits, now that he knew Garland personally, he thought of it as a highly uncharacteristic look. It was a relief when he looked around and smiled at Aurel. 

'Is everything alright?' Aurel said, coming to stand next to him. Garland's window looked out the front of the castle, at the courtyard always full of people, and the public castle grounds beyond that, always full of tourists and visitors. They were high up enough, and the castle walls thick enough, that little sound floated up to them, but Aurel couldn't imagine working with so much going on so close at hand. It must be even busier during weekends and public holidays. 

'Yes, of course.' Garland put his arm around Aurel's shoulders, and he consented to being pulled close. 'I took a holiday yesterday, naturally, and as a consequence, my work today is excessive. There is so much to think about.'

'Take things one at a time.' Aurel's tone was confident, but he knew that they must sound flimsy, coming from someone so much younger than Garland and who would never have half his responsibilities. It seemed to comfort Garland, though. 

'I will. Busy days are exceedingly trying, and yet even today, I feel that I can tolerate them all the better for the knowledge that you are here by my side.' 

Ridiculously, the words made Aurel smile too. 'I have never thought too much about the kingdom before,' he confessed, 'but when I think about it, I have always lived a happy life here. I have never known any king except you, so I think I have you to thank for that. If I can help you to do your duties in any way, then I am glad to do it.'

He knew it would please Garland to hear him say that, but he wasn't expecting the complete, shining joy that subsumed Garland's face. Garland took Aurel's face in his hands and kissed him, lingering for several seconds, going no further than touching Aurel's lips with his tongue. Aurel liked that more than the deep kisses Garland had demanded from him the night before, and he pressed back, wrapping his arms around Garland's neck, letting his mouth open to tease Garland's tongue with his own for a few moments. 

'It makes me happy when people tell me that I am capable of being a good ruler,' Garland murmured as he drew back. 'I worry about it so often. How would I know if I was doing a poor job? There are always people who will complain, and always people who will praise, no matter what the situation is. And of course, I owe a great deal of it to counsellors and other employees.'

Aurel was touched and pleased to hear of how thoughtful Garland was. _Go on being like that,_ he thought, _and I might just fall in love with you after all_. 'It is as well that you have married a commoner, then. My connection to the world that most of your subjects belong to will allow me to help you by telling you what the common people think of you.'

'Yes, indeed. Just one of your many strengths, my dear.'

'Is that all you wanted to talk to me about, then?' Aurel said, stepping back out of Garland's embrace. He had no objection to it in short periods, but he had never been an affectionate person, and it was just a little suffocating to remain cuddled in another's arms.

'Oh, no.' Garland laughed, sheepishly. 'You quite distracted me there, my dear. As a matter of fact, I wished to ask you if I could join you and your family for dinner. I have yet to give them my gifts in honour of our wedding.'

'Of course. That should be fine. What are you going to give them?'

'Am I correct in thinking that you would not like me to be extravagant? I could give your brother his own veterinary practice if he wanted it, but Hansen tells me that it would be far too much ...'

'Yes, he is correct,' Aurel said, hugely relieved that the king's personal assistant had that much common sense. 'Just a position close to home would be enough.'

'Very well.' Garland grinned at Aurel's expression. 'Hansen has secured a position for him in a veterinary hospital as a trainee veterinarian. That is a good start, is it not?' Aurel nodded. 'Your father, as I have offered before, will become Sir Hendry, and that is only appropriate, for it is the least I can do for my father-in-law, but as a further gift, I have asked his position in the department he works at to be raised. I am not too sure about your mother; however, Hansen informs me that a set of crockery never goes wrong with women.'

Aurel laughed. 'I think that will serve her well. She stays at home, and it would make her very happy to serve her friends out of tableware gifted to her by the king himself.'

'I hope she will not forget that I gift them to her as a son-in-law, and not as the king,' Garland said, and Aurel's heart stuttered again. How had he never heard of Garland's warmth and kindness before? It was extraordinary.

'I will not let her forget it,' he promised. 'They are still apprehensive of you, despite my best efforts to convince them of my esteem for you, but I am sure they will understand soon enough. If nothing else, time will make them accept it.'

'I hope so. I should be grateful enough that they have allowed me to marry you, yet I do wish for my in-laws to approve of me.'

'You have the appropriate attitude for making them do so,' Aurel said reassuringly. 'If there is nothing else, I will excuse myself to join my family for tea.'

'Yes.' Garland took Aurel's hand and kissed it, to Aurel's surprise. He thought he would have stopped after he became allowed to kiss him directly. 'Tell them that I will see them in the evening, if they are agreeable to it. I understand if they are not, and in that case I will allow you to present my gifts to them on my behalf.'

'They will not have any objections,' Aurel said. He squeezed Garland's hands, and left. On the way out, he nodded to Clerk Hansen, who stood up and bowed back. Aurel made a mental note to find an opportunity to speak to him someday. Garland seemed to rely on him, and Aurel felt he should get to know the man his king depended on.

'You're back in one piece,' Nathaniel said with mock surprise when Aurel returned to the suite. He eyed Aurel suspiciously. 'What did he want?'

'He wanted to ask if he could join us for dinner,' Aurel said, rolling his eyes at his brother's imagination. 'Since he hasn't had the chance to really socialise with any of you yet.'

'That's not necessary, Aurel,' his mother said anxiously. 

'You don't want to talk to him? If it really makes you uneasy, then I'll tell him not to come, but I want you to _try_ speaking to him. He's very sweet once you get to know him.'

'Really?' Nathaniel looked taken aback by Aurel's sincerity. 

'Have you never known his character before?' Aurel asked, turning to his father. 'I know you barely see him, but I ... I like what I know of him so far.'

'Well, he _is_ probably doing his best to impress you,' Nathaniel said. Aurel gave him a cold look.

'I suppose I have never seen anything to make me think badly of him,' Mason said. 'And there have been times when his orders or judgement made me glad that he is our king. Do you like him already, Aurel?'

'Yes.' Aurel sat back in his chair. 'I like him very much.' This was stretching the truth a bit, but it made his father smile and his mother seem a little bit more at ease, and he did not feel guilty for exaggerating. 

While they were still getting ready for dinner, there was a knock on the door of the family suite, and Mason opened it to reveal Garland. Feeling that it was his duty to greet him on behalf of his family, and pleased by his punctuality, Aurel came forward with his hands outstretched. 

'On time. Very well done,' he said. Garland smiled, taking his hands and kissing him on the cheek.

'How could I be late to dinner with my family? If a king cannot make time for the people dear to him, then who can, my dear?'

'Indeed. Do you teach everyone around you that?'

'Do I?' Garland said, looking bemused.

'It is what Isabella said to me on the day I arrived here, and she brought me to see you.'

'I see. I suppose it is a sentiment I agree with strongly, though it has been a while since I could act on it. Many of my family, and even of the acquaintances dear to me when I was young, are gone now.'

For a moment, the cheerful look on Garland's face faded so much that Aurel felt alarmed, particularly because his family were present. He came closer to link arms with Garland. Garland's expression didn't recover immediately or entirely, but it rather did credit to his character, and Aurel was glad when he squeezed his arm affectionately. 

'Let us go first,' Aurel said. 'My family are not quite ready yet, and you could hardly stay here while they prepare.'

'Oh, of course not. Then,' Garland bowed to them, 'thank you for allowing me to join you tonight. Please come to the private dining room at your own leisure.'

'If ... you don't mind me asking ...' Aurel said hesitatingly as they left the suite.

'Ask away, my dear Aurel.'

'I have researched your personal life before, but there are still many things I could not discover. Are ... all of your immediate family ... deceased?'

'It is no surprise that there is much information about me that is unknown to the public,' Garland nodded. 'As the royal family, we must give the impression that we have nothing to hide from our subjects, but at the same time, we must have our privacy. My father was very particular about that, especially when we were children, and I am ever more grateful for it as an adult.'

'"We"? Did you have a sibling?'

'Yes. Where did you look up information about me?'

'From the castle library.'

'Ah, I see. If you had searched in any other library, you may have discovered articles about my sister. She was younger than me by only a few years. She died very young, however, before she had even reached adolescence. In her grief, my mother destroyed all records of her existence in the castle, and my father only just saved her birth certificate.' He paused. 'Well, I say that my mother destroyed them. I helped. It was a great blow to me too.'

They were still walking arm in arm, but Aurel tried to press even closer. He wished he hadn't asked now, seeing the clouds over Garland's face, and Garland did not turn to look at him despite the affectionate gesture. 

'To answer your question, yes, all of my immediate family have passed away. From my childhood throughout my adult years, I had many cousins and other relatives close to my age whom I considered dear, yet many of them have passed away too. I feel now that I did not appreciate them enough in my younger years. It makes me all the more thankful for the friends I _do_ still have.'

It almost didn't make sense to Aurel's mind. Garland was apparently the sort of man who treasured his friendships, yet how he could form them so impulsively, as he had with Aurel? Had he been the same with all of them? Aurel marvelled at the heart of a man who had been so much hurt by loss, and could still find it within himself to attach to others so easily. He had never apparently resisted his attraction to Aurel, after all, but Aurel couldn't believe that he was as innocent and naïve as his angel blue eyes suggested.

'It is fortunate you fell in love with a man so much younger than you, then,' Aurel said. 'In the natural course of events, I will outlive you.'

Garland smiled at him, but to Aurel's dismay, it did not appear to have cheered him up very much. 'Yes, indeed. Forgive me for burdening you with an old man's troubles, my dear Aurel. I should be happy today, when I have just secured you by my side.'

'No.' Aurel shook his head. 'I am happy that you can confide in me. Discovering things about you makes you dearer to my heart. I want to be a comfort to you.'

'You already are. So very much.'

When they reached the dining room Aurel's family had been using for the past few days, Garland gestured for Aurel to take the chair on the right of the head of the table. Aurel thought that it was so Garland could sit adjacent to him, so he was surprised when he sat down on his other side instead.

'Should you not take the head of the table as the king?'

'When I am with your family, Aurel, I am no more than Sir Hendry's son-in-law.'

He had to explain this again when the rest of the family came in, and the soon-to-be Sir Hendry looked at them with confusion. A look of awe dawned over soon-to-be Lady Hendry's face as she listened. Thereafter, she smiled at him in a kind and friendly way that much relieved Aurel's feelings. Even Nathaniel gave him a look of surprise almost entirely void of his usual skepticism.

'I realise that it would be too much to hope for all of you to visit here often,' Garland said while they ate, 'but if there is anything I can do for you, or you simply need somewhere to be away from your usual haunts, then please come and see us. I am sure that Aurel would be glad for your company too, particularly while he is still getting accustomed to living in the castle with me.'

'If I may ask,' Aurel's mother said humbly, 'would you allow Aurel to come home whenever he wishes it? He has never been away from home before, not even to boarding school, and I'm afraid he be homesick from time to time.'

Aurel felt embarrassed by his mother airing her concerns so easily, and speaking as if she was terrified that Garland was going to reply that he would rather keep Aurel prisoner in the castle, but Garland smiled warmly. 'Of course, my lady. I have no greater wish except for Aurel's happiness. I would have no objection even if Aurel wished to stay with you every day and only visit me on the weekends.'

'Don't encourage her!' Aurel scolded as Nathaniel snorted into his soup. 'That would only happen if we had such a serious disagreement that I could not tolerate living with you, and yet could not decide to separate from you either.'

'In other words, it would never happen.' 

This time, Aurel somehow found it impossible to speak any flattering lies. He could only smile with all the confidence he did not feel.

They went through the dinner with many a pause and stilted conversation. Garland talked to Mason about work, a topic they could both talk about more or less easily, and occasionally asked Nathaniel about _his_ work. Nathaniel brushed his questions off curtly, until Aurel felt strongly compelled to slide a little lower down in his seat to give him a kick in the shins. Aurel almost ashamed to think of the favour Garland was going to do for Nathaniel, when he was being so impolite.

It was during after-dessert tea that there was a polite knock on the dining room door and Garland bid Clerk Hansen enter. He came in accompanied by a servant pushing a tea trolley, and they both bowed respectfully before simply going to stand patiently in a corner. Aurel looked at them in silence for several moments, then leaned over to Garland. 

'Is it necessary to make them wait?' he whispered. 'We will be a while yet. It would not inconvenience anyone if we summoned them only when we are ready.'

'Oh.' Garland looked slightly confused. 'Yes, I suppose that is the case. Should I send them away?'

'No, never mind,' Aurel said, also somewhat lost in their difference in rank and expectations of servants. 'Can you give your gifts to my family now?'

' _During_ tea?'

'Is there a problem?'

'People normally dislike being disturbed during tea, do they not?'

'Do they? Well, we usually have tea while watching television, so it will not pose a problem to us.'

'If you are sure, my dear.' Garland's smile was uncertain, as if seeking reassurance, and Aurel smiled calmly back. Garland rose to his feet, and as if in answer to a summons, Hansen and the servant came to stand behind him. 'Sir Hendry and Lady Hendry, and brother Nathaniel,' he began. Nathaniel caught Aurel's eye and raised an eyebrow. Aurel hastily looked away to resist a snort of amusement at his husband's expense. 'I hope that I am not being too forward, but today I am the happiest man on Earth, and I fear it would be remiss of me not to spread some of my happiness. Particularly if I neglected to show my gratitude to the family who have accepted me and given me that happiness. With my dear Aurel's advice - although you need not fear that he begged me to do this, for the act is entirely my own, born out of my thanks to all of you - I have prepared some gifts in honour of our wedding. I am aware of the fact that my taking Aurel from you has been a wretch, for surely he is dearer to the family that has raised him than he is to me, though it seems so impossible, and so I hope that my little presents will be of some use to you that you may find it easier to accept me as one of you.'

'Your Majesty, if I may speak?' Mason said, half standing with such a look of urgency that Aurel instantly frowned in suspicion. 'I do understand your feelings on the matter, but there is no need for anything of the like. _We_ are aware of the honour done to _us_ through your marriage with Aurel.'

'Honour and gratitude do not go only one way, Sir Hendry,' Garland said, his smile unfazed. 'I have received a new partner, while you have just about lost a son. It would be wrong of me not to acknowledge that.'

Perhaps Mason was too shy to say that he would be gaining a son-in-law in Garland, because Aurel was pretty sure the thought would have crossed his mind before. He was glad when Mason sat down with no further objection, though. Aurel was not entirely certain, but he felt that his family would feel much better for receiving Garland's gifts in the long run, over the embarrassment they would save for refusing him now. 

Mason accepted his promised promotion with clumsy grace, but he allowed his gratitude and happiness to show on his face, which made Aurel feel greatly satisfied. His mother was flustered when Hansen presented her with her box of crockery, blushing a fierce red, yet she was also unable to stop smiling. She had already warmed up to Garland slightly, and as she admired the handsome box of polished wood, peeking inside to look at the beautifully ornate contents, she gave him a very kind look. 

In contrast to Aurel's gratification, Nathaniel observed all of this with an expression of deep suspicion, until Garland said, 'It is for Nathaniel whom I am the most apprehensive about presenting a gift too, for I know that most young men feel that they must make their own way in the world, a view which I admire and agree with. However, I hope that he feels able to condescend to accepting a little help from his brother-in-law. The Nilsen Veterinary Hospital is in need of trainee veterinarians, and they would be greatly pleased to accept you into their ranks.'

Nathaniel stared at him, and then at Hansen who proffered him a thick envelope, with his mouth hanging open. Aurel allowed this spectacle to continue for two seconds before he cleared his throat very loudly, and Nathaniel started back to his senses. He took the envelope with a trembling hand and said, 'Ah, um, th-th-thanks.' 

Aurel glared at the meagre response, but Garland smiled happily enough, so he held back from saying anything. Garland gave Aurel an inquiring look as if to ask how he had performed, and Aurel kissed his cheek, whispering, 'Well done'. This time, Nathaniel did not even glance at them twice. The evening had gone very well, indeed.

He bade Garland go on to their bedroom before him so that he could say goodnight to his family. They stood around in the centre of the family suite awkwardly for a few seconds before his mother cleared her throat and said, 'That _was_ all your idea, wasn't it, Aurel?'

'Garland asked me if I would like a wedding present, and I told him there was nothing I would like more than for my family to receive gifts for their understanding in giving my hand in marriage to him,' Aurel said. 'Does that count?'

'I knew he couldn't have thought of it himself,' Nathaniel said airily, as if it lessened the value of Garland's gifts. Aurel scowled.

'That is _all_ I told him. The actual nature of the gifts, he decided for himself. Is it really so hard to credit my husband's kindness, Nathaniel?'

'If he decided these things for himself, then I can see why you already like his character, Aurel,' Lady Hendry said, sliding in between her sons with the natural ease of a mother. 'Are you sure that you can be happy here? If you say yes now, then I won't ask you again unless something new makes me doubt it.'

'Yes, I'm sure,' Aurel said, pleased by her words. 'You trust me to know myself, don't you?'

'It is one of the things that I don't doubt about you,' she said, and he was surprised to see that it was the truth. Well, he _had_ always been a very self-assured person.

'I'll come and see you off tomorrow, then.' He kissed his mother on the cheek. 'Goodnight.'

They bid him goodnight, and he left for his and Garland's bedroom.

-

A fair number of their wedding guests stayed on in the castle for a few days or even weeks after the wedding, for which Aurel was glad. It was true that he did feel a little bashful around them, but he was not naturally shy around people, and perhaps he was settling into his role of prince of the kingdom. Many of the ones who stayed were Garland's old friends too, all eager to make Aurel's acquaintance and ask him about his relationship with Garland - sometimes so much so that Aurel was worried about disappointing them with his love-at-first-sight story.

'Your story is both characteristic and _un_ characteristic of the Garland I know at the same time,' the Marquess of Devereaux said when he and Aurel bumped into one another in the library. 'It is very like Garland to believe him- excuse me, I meant _know_ himself, of course -' he corrected himself hastily. Aurel forgave him when he saw his sincerity. '- but I would never have imagined him to rush into a marriage. I thought he always liked building up long, trusting relationships with others. I do not know him as well as others do though, I suppose, and I only see him once a year at most.'

'I think Garland worries about the fact that he is getting along in years,' Aurel said. 'He may have felt that it was urgent for him to find someone to stay by his side and take care of him.'

'A task you are willing to take on, Your Highness?' the Marquess said with an inquiring smile.

Aurel paused. 'I fear that you believe me mercenary, my lord.'

'No, no, not at all,' the Marquess said so merrily that Aurel wondered if he _had_ thought it, and simply decided he would not have blamed Aurel even if it was the truth. 'Garland is a charismatic leader and a very likeable man. Even if you told me your intention in marrying him began selfishly, I would have no doubts that you would fall under his spell soon enough.'

The sentiment was amusing enough that Aurel decided to allow him his good-natured suspicions. It was true in a way, anyway.

People tried to ask Aurel about his past too, and sometimes he felt as if they were probing for some clue as to why Garland had taken to him so much, in the same way the Marquess had mused on Garland's uncharacteristic impulsiveness. Aurel didn't mind the questions, having nothing to hide (indeed, he almost felt guilty for having so little to say about himself), but it made him uneasy to once more think about Garland's reasons for marrying him. He had found it easy to accept that it was because of Garland's desire for him, but the people dearest to the king were doubtful of those professed intentions. Aurel had never found reason to suspect Garland of hiding anything from him, except for the occasional mystifying words, and those could be excused easily enough.

Once doubt entered Aurel's mind, it was difficult to make it go away. Somehow he found himself thinking of Garland's deceased sister, whose existence the previous queen had tried to erase, with Garland's help. Garland would only have been a boy at the time, hardly any indicator of his character as a man, and the way he must have felt at the time was perfectly understandable. And yet, Aurel was disturbed by the idea.

In what was probably a valiant attempt to make Aurel feel more at home in the castle and less homesick for his family, Garland took almost every meal with Aurel. This included teatime, even though most of the time, they would have to have it in Garland's office because he couldn't tear himself away. Aurel put up with it for a week before he finally cracked and informed him that it was _not_ necessary. He _liked_ Garland, but it was all the easier to like him when he was allowed to choose how much time to spend with him. It was already difficult enough in the bedroom, where Garland asked for him almost every night. That was only to be expected, early on in a marriage, Aurel told himself, and he _did_ like it half the time. The rest of the time, however ... he was only going along with things as they went. Garland was considerate in that he never stopped until Aurel had reached climax too, but he never seemed to consider that Aurel might want to do things differently, and Aurel didn't know how to put words to his desire without being asked.

Nevertheless, Aurel did like Garland enough to occasionally seek his company for no reason other than that the urge had struck him. One day, still in the early weeks of their marriage, Aurel decided to go to this office to have tea with him, and as he arrived in the anteroom, he noticed that Clerk Hansen had teapot, teacup, and a plate of biscuits on his desk around the piles of paper that habitually covered it at all other times. Surprised, Aurel said, 'Are you taking your tea break at your desk, Mr Hansen?'

'Yes, Your Highness.'

'Do you always do that?'

'Most days, yes.'

'Does Garland make you do it?'

Hansen smiled and shook his head. 'No, Your Highness. I choose to do so because it is convenient, particularly on days when I am busier than usual. On more leisurely days, I normally have tea with my wife in our suite.'

He, as well as a few other courtiers and important administrative staff who reported directly to Garland, lived in the castle. Aurel nodded, relieved to hear both that Garland was not that ruthless, and that Hansen was good-natured enough to have tea with his wife whenever he could. Aurel had not yet met Mrs Hansen, but he had heard that she had some high-ranking position in the domestic staff. 

'May I have tea with you today, then?' Aurel said.

For a second, Hansen only stared with his mouth open in astonishment. Then, understanding dawned and he said in a kindly voice, 'Are you settling into the castle well, Your Highness?'

'I am, but there are still many things that are very strange to me.' Letting himself relax a moment, Aurel said, 'Everything is fine, but you're the most _normal_ person it's proper for me to talk to. Garland likes and trusts you, too. We should be friends.'

'I am most gratified that you think so, Your Highness,' Hansen said humbly. Aurel could see that he had got through to him though, and that Hansen was willing to accept his offer of friendship. 'Thank you. I would be honoured to have your company for tea.'

'How old are you, Mr Hansen?' Aurel asked as he sat down, while Hansen turned around to the cupboard behind him to take out another teacup.

'I am 26, Your Highness.'

That was a good few years older than Aurel, but still made him the youngest person Aurel had talked to in the castle, apart from servants, by far. 'And how long have you worked for Garland?'

'I was accepted into a minor clerical position when I was 18, and three years later, the king accepted me as his personal assistant.'

'Then you have been with him five years. That seems like a long time to me, but is it a long time to have a personal clerk? I know that Garland has been king for 26 years now.'

'I suppose it is neither long nor short.' Hansen poured Aurel a steaming cup of tea, then offered him the sugar bowl. Aurel accepted two sugar cubes, along with Hansen's apologies that the only biscuits he had were rich tea biscuits. 'My predecessor was with His Majesty for 8 years before he passed away.'

Aurel frowned slightly. 'Was he ... a close friend of Garland's?'

'They were good friends, I heard,' Hansen affirmed, and Aurel sighed. 'Is something the matter?'

'No ... Garland once spoke sadly about his late friends, and how it made him treasure his current friends all the more. It is only a part of life that one's friends enter and exit one's life, but I dislike thinking of the pain Garland has lived through all the same.'

'You have such a strong bond between the two of you,' Hansen said warmly. Aurel blushed, wondering if that was the truth. 

'Tell me more about Garland. I feel like I hardly know him at all. He is so open about himself, his character, and his past that he feels like an enigma.'

'I know what you mean,' Hansen chuckled. 'There are still many times when I feel that I hardly know him at all. The one thing that I can assure you about him, however - though I am sure you are already certain of it yourself - is that His Majesty is as good and true a man as he seems. Many people, even within this castle itself, wonder and suspect at his reasons for marrying you so quickly, but whatever his reasons may be, _I_ believe in their sincerity.'

'I _am_ certain of his goodness,' Aurel said, 'but I am happy to hear you say it all the same. There are no hidden motives behind our marriage; it is entirely as you see before you, and I could only assure my friends and family of my decision to accept by telling them of my confidence in his honourable character.' Well, perhaps some people would say that desire, as Aurel believed Garland's purpose in marrying him originated, was neither honourable nor virtuous, but what Aurel saw was that Garland had not deceived him, and that was enough for him.

Hansen nodded, smiling. 'Before you came, I sensed a great sadness within His Majesty - a sadness that he kept locked away, unwilling to face whatever it was that had made him feel that way. I believe that is one of His Majesty's greatest faults; he is such a happy person all of the time, that it has made him unable to confront the things he fears. I was very glad when he met you and his happiness returned.'

This was the first Aurel had heard of anything like _that_. 'Do you mean it was a sadness he had always carried with him, or had something happened to make him like that?'

'It was something new, I believe. I noticed no change in him until ... some seven months before he met you. Outwardly, he was the same as ever, but sometimes he would look so melancholy and even angry. He never wanted anyone to disturb him during those times though, so I never asked. I could only feel happy for him when his usual joyfulness returned.'

Aurel was silent for a few moments, turning Hansen's words over in his head. What could have made Garland feel so bitter? He might not yet know Garland particularly well, but he felt that it would have to be an extraordinary weight to make Garland's bright smile fade.

'Was there anything that you suspected had made him feel like that?' he asked.

'Nothing. Lately ... lately I have felt that the burden of age has weighed more heavily than ever on His Majesty, and that he has grown weary of his responsibilities and of always losing his friends -'

'But he is hardly _that_ old yet,' Aurel interrupted. 'He is fifty, not _eighty_.'

'Yes.' Hansen's smile became tight. 'However, I am sure you would agree that His Majesty has burdens many times more than that of any other man his age. It shows, despite his best efforts. He bears it well most of the time, but when I saw that sadness ... I wondered if he had lost another close friend, or perhaps someone close to an intimate friend, like a child. I had heard of no deaths of anyone connected to His Majesty though, so I do not know if I was my surmise was correct. It might nevertheless have been, for although His Majesty must maintain his public image, he keeps many things private, beyond the eye of any other people including myself.'

'You say that as if you expect Garland to share everything with you,' Aurel said lightly in an effort to ease the mood. Talking of Garland being miserable was not how he had envisioned spending teatime today. 

'Perhaps I do expect too much of him in that respect,' Hansen laughed. 'I have often hoped that His Majesty does feel comfortable confiding in me. Though he has many friends, I suspect that he does not often speak to them in confidence - _not_ because he does not trust them, but because he feels that his troubles should be his own and nobody else's.'

 _That_ was the one thing Hansen said which clicked with Aurel immediately. Yes, that was how he felt things were with Garland. It was not so much that he had secrets, but that he did not think he was allowed to share his burdens with others.

'I hope he _does_ feel that he can confide in you, even if not about everything,' Aurel said. 'He should have someone he feels comfortable speaking to. I will try to make him speak to me too; I am his husband, and _that_ is only right.' 

'You are a gracious and affectionate spouse,' Hansen said warmly, but Aurel barely heard him. He couldn't stop thinking of the weight on the world on Garland's shoulders, and the unfairness of such a great man having no one to talk to. Aurel was the kind of person to keep his problems to himself too, but _his_ problems were entirely trivial in comparison to Garland's - and he knew, too, how it felt to _want_ to share one's troubles with another, yet not know how or who to share them with.

'Do you think -' Aurel started to say, when Garland's office door clicked open, and the king stepped out. He was frowning at the folder he held in his hands.

'Hansen, has the Duke answered your call yet? I need -' Garland stopped abruptly when he saw Aurel, and an expression of joy lit his features. 'Aurel! Good afternoon, my dear, what are you doing here?' His eyes roamed over the desk, taking in the tea things spread out over them, and a slight frown formed on his face. 'What are you doing here?' he said again.

'Having tea with Mr Hansen,' Aurel said, resisting the urge to roll his eyes. 'I thought it would be appropriate for me, as your spouse, to acquaint myself with the man you work with every day and rely on so much. Do you disagree?'

'Not at all.' Garland brightened up instantly. Aurel glanced over at Hansen, who grinned at his exasperated expression. 'You are above and beyond everything I expected of you, my dear. Although, if you wish to acquaint yourself with Hansen, why not invite _me_?'

'You could hardly expect us to speak freely about you when you are present,' Aurel scoffed. He stood up. 'Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Mr Hansen. I will leave you and Garland to your work now.'

'It was a pleasure, Your Highness. Please don't hesitate to speak to me again if there is anything I can help you with,' Hansen said at the same time as Garland spoke. 

'Oh, no, stay a little while longer, my dear. _I_ have not had my tea yet.'

'Don't be so needy. You will see me in a few hours.'

'Yes, of course, but I am always -'

Aurel stood up on tiptoe and pecked him on the lips, instantly shocking him into silence. 

' _You_ must tell me too, if there is anything I can do regarding the subject we discussed earlier,' Aurel seized the moment to say to Hansen. 'I will rely on you to do so.'

'Certainly, Your Highness.' Hansen's smile had grown even wider upon watching them.

'See you later then, Garland,' Aurel said, and left.

-

Many of Garland's friends who so frequently visited and stayed at the castle were women. Aurel thought this was strange (and slightly suspicious) until Isabella explained that titles, and the responsibilities associated with them, went to men, while their wives and daughters enjoyed the comforts of luxury. This meant they were frequently bored, and thus often visiting their friends, or meeting one another at some convenient location, which in this case was Garland's castle. 

He was still apprehensive of the fact that they were all women though, especially when he realised that he, in some strange way, now counted among their number. During the wedding, he had been introduced to them all, and Isabella reintroduced them again a few weeks afterwards. The most habitual visitors were Lady Dixon (Mildred, or Millie), Lady Thorpe (Amelia), and the Countess of Norton (Grace), who were all around Garland's age, and who had all known him since he was a boy. This did warm Aurel to them, in his current state of concern for Garland's emotional wellbeing, but it couldn't make him comfortable with them immediately - although _they_ certainly seemed to accept him as one of them at once.

'How are you getting along with Garland?' the Countess said in a kindly tone of voice, one day when they invited him to have tea with them. Everyone asked him that question. He couldn't tell if it was simply out of politeness, curiosity, or genuine concern. When Aurel had first arrived at the castle, he had assumed that the people who knew Garland best would assume, as he had, that Garland's infatuation with him was purely out of lust, but he wasn't so sure that was the case now. Perhaps their concern had other roots.

'Very well. He is a kind and conscientious husband,' Aurel replied. He tried not to make it sound rehearsed, but he had been asked it so many times now, it was hard not to speak a little stiffly. Anyway, it wasn't exactly a lie, even if he couldn't put words to what it was that Garland lacked in his eyes.

'I would be shocked if he was any other way,' Lady Dixon said, 'but I cannot accept it if you say that your marriage is perfect, Aurel. Tell _us_ the truth - what is he really like when he is with you?'

'You can hardly expect Aurel to speak openly about his husband with you when he hardly knows you,' Isabella said, clicking her tongue, perhaps seeing Aurel's slightly glazed expression. 

'What does he have to fear from me?' Lady Dixon protested. 'I wouldn't dream of telling Garland if his husband had anything to complain about him. That is what we are here _for_ , after all, my dear.'

'You are always so hasty, Millie,' Lady Thorpe said smoothly. 'If Prince Aurel is _not_ settling in as well as he says, us bearing down on him would hardly help.'

'If you tell me what it is that you would _really_ like me to say, then you need only mention it, and I will say it for you,' Aurel offered. Millie blushed, and the others laughed.

'Don't mind Millie, dear, she's always like that,' the Countess said. 'You need not tell us anything more than you wish.'

'In which case, I should like to assure you that I _do_ like Garland, and I cannot understand why everyone else remains so unconvinced of my happiness with him.'

'It is not so much that we are unconvinced, but that we are concerned. Am I correct in thinking that the day Garland asked you to marry him was the first time the two of you laid eyes on one another?'

'You are. I see where the cause of your concern lies. Perhaps we _were_ very hasty, and indeed, I would not have accepted the proposal of someone I had only known five minutes no matter how much I reciprocated their feelings, if they were my age. However, Garland is much older and wiser than I am, and I have always trusted him to rule the kingdom where I live. I felt I could trust him to know his own heart. Besides which, I have always felt that most two people could get along forever if they are willing to communicate and compromise. I certainly am, and I am sure Garland must be too.'

'Such wise words,' the Countess said with a smile. 

'Indeed, it makes me wonder if Garland is all that much wiser than you as you believe,' Lady Dixon said. Isabella gave a most unladylike snort. 

'Even if not in this type of situation in particular, certainly in most other areas,' Aurel said firmly.

He watched them talk among themselves for a few more minutes before he made up his mind to ask the thing that had been really preying on his mind. They seemed accustomed to speaking to each other about their husbands and familial responsibilities, and of trusting one another with their secrets. Aurel didn't feel the same way - although purely because he was not familiar with them yet, and not for any other reason - but he thought he could ask them about this. He would lose nothing by it, even if Garland heard about him asking such questions.

'Though I _am_ certain of Garland's decision in asking me to marry him,' he said, when the conversation came back to him, 'there is something that has been making me curious ever since I have come to know his character better. Now that I think about it, I would certainly expect him to profess his love as soon as he felt it, but I would not have expected him to propose marriage as quickly as he did. Is it as uncharacteristic of him as I think?'

'In a way, yes, and in other ways, no,' Isabella said. This was so exactly what the Marquess had said that Aurel's curiosity was even more piqued.

'You have him down exactly as I would have described him,' Lady Thorpe added. 'But perhaps it is not so strange. Garland is getting along in years, to have no heir or partner to speak of.'

'And Garland's feelings are hard to sway, once he has decided on them,' Lady Dixon added. 'Perhaps it was as wise and well-thought-out a decision as you believe, Aurel. If his mother were still alive, she would probably be ever so worried about him, and would not think twice about it if he decided to marry someone so quickly, either.'

'You really must learn to phrase things more carefully, Millie,' Isabella said scornfully. 'I will say, however, and I hope you can forgive me for it, Aurel, that I share in everyone's concerns. Garland _projects_ an image of careless mirth and cheer, but he would not be ruler today if his character were truly so. He is normally so much more careful about the slightest things. I can hardly imagine what would bring him to ask the hand in marriage of someone whose background he does not have the slightest clue about.'

'That may not have been entirely true. My father works in government offices, after all, and though he does not work directly for Garland, he _does_ work closely enough that I would expect his superiors to report his work and existence to Garland,' Aurel said pointedly. 

'That is very true,' Isabella said, but Aurel got the impression that he had not erased her doubts in the least.

'Do you remember when Garland returned from Sonolia - oh, almost a year ago?' Lady Dixon said. 'He was so ... so angry, so unlike himself, for such a long time. We never _could_ find out what had happened to him. I wonder if his misery then was part of what compelled him to take such a huge chance for happiness so quickly.'

'" _We_ " could never find out what happened to him?' Lady Thorpe said in lofty tones. 'I do not recall having any part in your little detective game, Mildred.'

'You know what I mean,' Lady Dixon said impatiently. 'Nothing seemed to have _happened_ , nothing that we heard about, and whenever anyone asked him if he was alright, he would scowl so furiously and demand them to leave him alone.'

'Oh, I liked him like that,' the Countess said merrily, all of them seemingly oblivious to the way Aurel's heart stopped and his expression froze. 'Whenever he lost his temper at someone, he would seek them out afterwards when he had calmed down and make it up to them in some sweet and thoughtful way. The favours I got out of him then!'

'How could you take advantage of him like that?' Aurel said softly, almost unconsciously. 'When he was in a state of such distress, and would surely have needed all his closest friends' support?'

'Yes, indeed, you should be ashamed of yourself, Grace,' Lady Thorpe said immediately, but the amusement on all their faces was clear.

'We _were_ there to support him during that time - that is why _all_ of us stayed there for so long during that time, save for Isabella who could only stay a week before she had to return to Maccius to meet her son,' Lady Dixon said. 'Anton wrote to me almost every day for the last week, begging me to return.' She smiled dreamily. 'I liked _that._ It had been so long since he wrote such beautiful words to me.'

'Are you curious about what happened to him?' Isabella said to Aurel. 'As Mildred has said, _we_ could never discover what had happened to him, but perhaps he would be willing to tell you.'

'Where is Sonolia?' Aurel said. 'Does he visit there often? Did you think that whatever had happened to upset him had occurred there?'

'He used to visit there all the time, but seldom now, ever since the day he returned from it so distressed and affected. The royal family there were close friends with his family, and the kingdoms have been affiliated for over a century. I believe that Garland's excuse to visit was to attend to the retired king and queen there, as they were such good friends of his parents, and he no longer has his own parents to care for.'

'How kind-hearted of him,' Aurel murmured, awed by his partner's compassion. It almost made him feel small and insignificant next to the greatness of his king.

'Allow me to say it before Millie does,' the Countess said. 'Though I am sure Garland did his duty by them beautifully, I never truly believed that was his _whole_ reason for visiting Sonolia so often. His clerks used to quite hound him for disappearing there all the time.'

'What did you think the real reason was, then?' Aurel said. When no one said anything, their faces blank, he raised an eyebrow. 'You should not have mentioned it if you were unwilling to tell me.'

'Oh, I only mentioned it so that Millie wouldn't run her mouth off about it,' the Countess said airily. Lady Dixon pouted in response, and Lady Thorpe scoffed.

'I don't know what you fear from telling me,' Aurel said insistently. 'I would not relay your suspicions to Garland.'

'I fear you being offended, dear,' the Countess said after a few moments of empty silence.

'Banish the thought.'

'Well, we have no real basis for thinking it, really,' Isabella said in a voice that was almost condescendingly soothing. 'He never acted with particular strength of feeling before or after visiting Sonolia - not that _we_ noticed, anyway - it was merely the most plausible reason we could come up with ourselves.'

Aurel thought he knew what she was going to say, and nodded her on. The unhappy twinge in his chest when she said, 'A lover, we thought,' was entirely unexpected, however. 

'The evidence for and against it were equal, and it was all just circumstance, to be honest,' Isabella went on. She was watching his face so carefully, he fought hard to keep his expression even. 'We couldn't tell if it was the truth or not, and in time, it only became a joke amongst us to mention it.'

'Has he ever had lovers before?'

'What did he tell you?'

'Never mind what he told me,' Aurel said shortly. The women laughed. 'Just tell me what you know.'

' _Do_ tell us what he told you, Aurel,' Lady Dixon said with unrestrained eagerness. 'I am dying to know!'

' _You_ tell _me_ what you know first.'

'There is no way around it,' Lady Thorpe said, unnecessarily gravely. 'We shall have to make him face the bald truth. Go on, Grace, you have known Garland longest of us all, and you know him best. Tell all.'

The Countess rolled her eyes. 'Very well then, I will tell all of it. Officially, Garland had a sweetheart when he was in his early 20s, which lasted all of 3 months, and he had another 5 years later, to whom he was engaged for a year, until she left him for another man. He had no known sweethearts after that, although I strongly suspect he had some kind of understanding with one of his courtiers for a while - or perhaps two of them.'

'That's ... that's terrible,' Aurel said, rather reeling from everything he was learning that day.

'I mean he had them during different periods of time, not both at once.'

'I meant his fiancée who left him after a year of engagement,' Aurel said, although the other thing didn't sit particularly well with him, either. He recognised that there was probably nothing _wrong_ with it though. Garland was always so eager for him, he understood if Garland needed to have _someone_ to satisfy his needs with. The only thing he could comfort himself with now was that Garland didn't need anyone except him anymore.

'You mean me,' the Countess said, and the others burst into giggles. Aurel flushed, but he was not the type to back down out of embarrassment or social deference. 

'Do I? I cannot imagine how great a man the Count of Norton must be for you to leave someone as sweet and good-natured and clever as Garland for him.' The women laughed even harder.

'It was a long time ago, so I hardly remember,' the Countess said, immediately rising in Aurel's esteem by playing along. 'I have never had cause to regret my decision. I did feel sorry, once upon a time, that Garland never found a sweetheart after me, but I stopped quickly when I mentioned the matter to him and he laughed it off.'

'Well, he would. He hates to feel that is he troubling anyone else,' Aurel said, sticking to the role of protective spouse in staunch defence of his beloved. 

'True, but if he wants help, then he will have to ask for it.'

'It is as well,' Aurel conceded at last. 'I am glad to have him now.'

'What did he tell _you_ then?' Lady Dixon said.

'Only that he has had lovers in the past, but had never felt for them the way he feels for me. Naturally, I did not believe him.'

'Why not?'

'Who could believe such a thing?'

'Someone who wanted to, of course,' Lady Thorpe said. 'I wish _my_ husband had said such a thing to me before we married. Instead, he let me stew for weeks when I discovered he had invited a previous sweetheart to the wedding.'

'Well, I did not love him at the time, so it had little effect on me except to convince me of his great romanticism.'

He hadn't quite meant to say that, especially when the women cried out in objection.

'It was hardly a week after we first met,' he said quickly. 'I _did_ always esteem him very greatly, but I would not be so hasty as to label it love, that is all.'

'No, no, you cannot take it back,' Isabella said, laughing. 'You have as much as confessed that you did not love him when you married him.'

'We do not think less of you for it, dear,' the Countess said. 

'Nor will we tell Garland that you have said as much if you tell us the real reason you agreed to his proposal on the day you met one another,' Lady Dixon said. 

'I wish I could tell you that we would do no such thing, and indeed all of us would not save for Millie,' Isabella said seriously.

'You may tell him if you wish,' Aurel said evenly. 'It would not cause his feelings for me to waver, particularly when I tell him my feelings for him now are true.' _Even if their truth is in the fact that they are just the same as the day I first met him_.

'Oh, the faith of young love,' Lady Thorpe sighed. 'How I envy you. Not that Tobias is unkind or neglectful to me now, but I recognise that those days must be behind us.'

'Garland is the same age as all of you,' Aurel pointed out. This seemed to surprise Lady Thorpe.

'Of course, how true. It is different when you are newly married, though.'

He gave up. Before he could start to worry about escaping Lady Dixon's probing, the lunch bell sounded, and he tried not to jump to his feet too quickly. Fortunately, the women were anxious for lunch, and stood up at the same time. With many a warm smile and a kind word, the company broke up.


	4. Chapter 4

Aurel had never had the chance to experience the working world, the day he had visited the castle with his father being the first time he had ventured into it after school - and, as it turned out, the last. Perhaps it was just as well. He might have been greatly bored otherwise. As it were, having freshly graduated from the fatigue of school, he adapted well to having little to do except talk to people. And Garland approved.

'I like seeing you socialise with the ladies,' he said, beaming. 'I would do it myself, but of course, I do not always have the time. You save me the trouble by keeping up my relationship with them.'

'They are very kind to me,' Aurel said. 'I do not know if I could be diplomatic towards less kind people.'

'Do you think that you have the propensity to lose your temper towards people you dislike?'

'Sometimes, if they provoke me.'

'Then you will do very well, my dear.'

He didn't understand, but didn't want to ask what Garland meant, so he let it go. He would worry about it when it happened, he supposed. So far, people had been very kind to him, although he got the impression, as he had slightly when he spoke to Lady Dixon, Lady Thorpe, and the Countess of Norton, that they saw him just slightly beneath them. Perhaps not quite as a commoner, but perhaps as a child. It didn't irk him. He just hoped that other people's views of him would not affect the way _Garland_ saw him.

And he hoped, too, that no one would see fit to tell him that he had been asking about his past. Hansen's and the ladies' account of his behaviour after he returned from Sonolia weighed heavily on his mind. He did not lend too much credence to the women's suspicions that he had had a lover - not because he considered it implausible, but because it did not seem relevant to worry about what his reasons for visiting Sonolia might have been - rather, it was because he had the feeling that it was related to Garland's true motives for marrying him.

It was one lazy day, during which Aurel had not bothered to dress or even get out of bed until the lunch bell went, when all such thoughts were abruptly driven from his head. He was having tea by himself, wondering if he could persuade Garland to do nothing more than cuddle tonight, when there was a loud, urgent knock on the door. At Aurel's command, a footman entered, looking flustered, and bowed.

'Your Highness, there is a young man claiming to be your brother here to see you. I have admitted him to the first parlour, if you would be so kind as to see him?'

At the words 'your brother', Aurel almost choked on his tea. He jumped to his feet and said, 'Yes, I will see him at once. Please prepare some refreshment for him. He must have come some way.'

The footman bowed and left with the same hurry with which he'd come in. Aurel drained his tea, checked himself in the mirror, and sprinted after him.

Nathaniel sat at the very edge of the sofa on which he'd been situated, looking tense and weary to Aurel's eyes. He looked around in surprise, however, when Aurel rushed through the door.

'Hello! What's up?' he said, and Aurel paused in the doorway, confused.

'A - a servant announced your arrival all of a sudden? I thought ... something had happened ...'

'Well, something has, but it's not so bad that you had to come rushing in like that.' Nathaniel stood up, and took Aurel into his embrace. Aurel was startled. His brother had seldom hugged him ever since he grew past eight years old. 'How are you?'

'Perfectly alright, of course. How about you?'

'Just fine,' Nathaniel said, but Aurel saw the strained expression in his eyes. 'Is there somewhere private we can talk?'

'The suite I share with Garland. I'll tell -'

'Oh, er, is there anywhere else?' 

'It's the most private place I have. Is something wrong?'

'Well, no,' Nathaniel mumbled. 'It just feels weird to intrude on your personal, um, family place.'

'If you want something private, that is as good as it gets,' Aurel said coldly. 

'Alright, alright, let's go then.'

A maid appeared at the door with the tea trolley as they turned to leave. Aurel said, 'My apologies, Miss, but could you bring them to the king's suite instead, please? I will speak with my brother there.'

'Of course, Your Highness,' she said, and wheeled the trolley away.

'"Perfectly alright", hm?' Nathaniel said. 'You _do_ seem to be settling in well.'

'I would make an extremely poor prince if I couldn't even speak to a servant properly,' Aurel scoffed. 

'Is that so? How about all the other things you have to do as a prince; are you settling into _them_ too?'

'I don't know. I just act myself and let Garland tell me if I've done something wrong.'

'Has his infatuation of you dimmed enough to scold you, then?'

'Nothing of the sort,' Aurel said irritably. 'As a matter of fact, it is proof of how rational his love is, that he can remain objective in judging my character while loving me all the same.'

'Oh really? So do you love him already then?'

Aurel made no answer to this for several seconds, and it was as well, because they soon came across Lady Thorpe and her lady's maid, wielding a bag. She stopped when she saw them.

'Hello, Aurel. Do you have a visitor?'

'Good afternoon, Lady Thorpe. Yes I do, to replace you now that you are leaving us. This is my brother, Nathaniel.'

'Very pleased to meet you.' She curtsied, and Nathaniel bowed back, not deeply enough for Aurel's satisfaction. 'I am sorry to leave you, Aurel, but my husband calls me back. May I hope, however, that you will return my visit? It is not half as lively in my estate as it is here; however, I shall invite Millie, Grace, and Isabella so that you will be comfortable among friends.'

'I should be most interested to do so.' Aurel bowed. 'Have a safe trip, my lady.'

'And _do_ learn to call me by my name, please. I never imagined I would have to teach Garland's spouse how to do _that_. Goodbye, Aurel.' She curtsied, as did her lady's maid after her, and they both swept away. 

Aurel was extremely gratified by her invitation. He might not feel entirely at home amidst the ladies yet, but it was nice to think he had made a friend.

'Who was that?' Nathaniel whispered before she had gone five paces. Aurel glared at him, and ushered him forward.

'Lady Amelia Thorpe, one of Garland's old friends who likes to stay and visit. Try to be polite, won't you? I _am_ a prince.'

'You won't be for long,' Nathaniel said, and Aurel momentarily froze in his tracks.

'What do you mean?' he said, struggling to keep his tone and pace even.

'Do you expect to be married to the king _forever_?'

'So far I see no flaw in that plan.'

'Don't you think he'll get bored of you eventually and tell you to go home? Or _you'll_ get tired of waiting on his every command, and leave _him_?’

'That just goes to show how little you know him,' Aurel said, hoping he was successfully hiding the fact that he almost believed him - because he certainly felt the words too strongly for comfort. 'And _me_ , may I add.’

'It may be that _you're_ the one who doesn't know yourself, Aurel. I _am_ your older brother, you know. I've technically known you longer than you've known yourself.'

'I wonder you ever became a doctor with logic skills like that,' Aurel snorted. Luckily, Nathaniel saw the light side of his retort, and laughed. 

'Animals aren't too demanding in that respect. My patients don't even expect me to talk to them, except to say "sit" and "stay".'

'Yes, how _are_ you liking your new position?' Aurel said, seizing on the subject that could plausibly make Nathaniel feel just a little ashamed of his skepticism. 'Are you still living by yourself?'

'It's a good job,' Nathaniel mumbled, to Aurel's triumph. 'I'm living with Mother and Father again since I don't feel like finding a new place now that I'm so close to them, and anyway, I thought they'd be lonely since you went so suddenly.'

They reached the suite, where the maid was already waiting. Aurel nodded her in, waiting for her to lay the things out on the coffee table and leave with a curtsy, before entering himself. Nathaniel followed him, looking around the corridor furtively as if he was about to rob the place. He stopped abruptly once he was inside the door. 

'Wow,' he whispered. 'No wonder you don't want to leave him.'

'This isn't the only reason,' Aurel retorted, but he was pleased. It _was_ a very beautiful suite, taking up a whole half of the floor they were on, with more rooms than an extravagantly-sized house. The door opened immediately onto an open living room, every wall decorated with art, bookshelves, or cabinets stuffed with fascinating, and often ancient, objects. Three doors lead off of it. 

'Just how big _is_ this castle? I wouldn't have imagined a place like this _anywhere_ inside it.'

'You didn't even see a tenth of it while you were here, Nathaniel. I still get lost sometimes.' Aurel lead him to the sofa and sat back amongst velvet cushions.

'I can imagine.' Nathaniel's gaze continued to roam around the room as he backed into the seat next to Aurel. 'It's nice. Very nice.'

'Would you like me to show you around?'

'No, thank you.' He blinked back to his senses, and focused on Aurel again. 'There's another reason I think you shouldn't stay with the king, Aurel.'

'Oh, so it's a "shouldn't" instead of a "won't"? You should have said, that changes things.'

'Then you agree with my opinion?'

'Not at all. It makes it easier to reject it if your reasoning is that _you_ don't like it, as opposed to you psychically seeing a future where my relationship with Garland doesn't last.'

'Whatever,' Nathaniel snorted. 'Listen Aurel, Mother and Father have been fighting all the time ever since you left, you know?' The words made Aurel's heart sink. That was the last piece of news he wanted to hear from his brother on his visit. 'About all kinds of trivial things, but Mother always brings it back to the fact she thinks Father gave you away to the king in exchange for everything he gave us.'

'I thought she said she wouldn't doubt my decision to stay with him again unless I personally gave her reason to,' Aurel said, closing his eyes and leaning back with a sigh. 

'It was all very well immediately after he was so nice to us, but none of us _really_ believe that it was just out of happiness from joining our family. Why should a king be happy to be a part of _our_ family anyway?'

'Because he loves me.' Aurel knew how weak and feeble it sounded - and indeed, he might not know what had caused Garland to be so hasty about marrying him - but he believed in Garland's sincerity. He had not yet had any cause to doubt it.

'God, Aurel, just how naïve can you get?'

'Just how distrusting can _you_ get? If you're not going to believe him, why not believe _me_?'

'You're just a kid!'

'You're not much older than I am! And you don't even know him! You just insist that his gifts were to bribe you because you _want_ to believe it. You won't even give him a chance to get to know him and find out if that's the sort of thing he would do! Wasn't he perfectly kind and gracious when he had dinner with us? You believed in his sincerity that night, just as I always do - I saw it.'

'His pretty words had me for a minute, I'll admit, but when I look past that, I still don't see why I should believe them.’

'That's because there _isn't_ anything to see past that. They are his true words.'

They glared at each other.

'Do you think it'd help if I go home for a while?' Aurel said coolly. 'I don't think I can convince them of my certainty in Garland by bringing them here any more.'

'You may be right,' Nathaniel said, relaxing, and Aurel turned to pour him tea. 'I don't know if it would _help,_ though. They might end up convincing themselves that you're happier at home if they see you there for any length of time.'

'It's the only thing I can do now. Maybe after a week of letting them calm down around me, I'll invite Garland over so they can see what he is like with me, and how he treats all of you, even in my own home.'

'Alright. But don't do it until you're really sure that Mother and Father can accept his presence.'

'Yes. Don't mention it to them yet, though. I have to speak to Garland first. I know he'll let me go, I just don't want you to tell them so that they end up haranguing me every day about when I'm coming.'

'Fair enough.'

Afterwards, to Aurel's relief, the conversation drifted to more trivial matters, and Nathaniel even consented to a tour of the royal suite. In his desperation to make his family understand, Aurel considered bringing him to see Garland, but decided that it probably wouldn’t help. In the end, Nathaniel left without meeting anyone else, although not without repeated assurances that Aurel would ask for Garland’s leave to visit his family as soon as possible.

-

Aurel would have liked to put off asking about leaving to stay with his family for at least a week - he still felt that their marriage was very new, and it would help neither their relationship stability nor public appearances, to leave so soon - but naturally Garland would have been informed of Nathaniel's visit, and would want to ask why he had come. It didn't mean that he had to leave immediately though, he told himself. He would just mention the matter for now, perhaps discuss a good time for him to go.

He was happy to see that Garland was in an exuberantly good mood when they met for dinner. In the past few months, Aurel had had time to discover that his favourite Garland was the calm and contented Garland, and it was during those times he minded the least, or perhaps had even begun to enjoy, being showered in short bursts of affection. An overjoyed Garland was his second favourite though; not because of the way he acted (those times were when Aurel was most likely to be suffocated by affection), but because he was usually like that when he had accomplished something, usually quite clever, for the kingdom. Aurel might enjoy condescending Garland for being _his_ king, but it had not taken him long after that first night to find out that he liked having Garland as his _king_ for reasons besides.

'Good evening, my dear,' Garland greeted him, taking his hand and kissing it. The royal couple were expected to have dinner with courtiers and guests, a fact which suited Aurel in that Garland understood he wasn't allowed to directly kiss him in public. 'How has your day been? I heard your brother visited - good tidings, I hope?'

'Nothing bad,' Aurel said. Garland pulled his chair out for him, and he sat down. 'You seem to have had an even better day than mine.'

''Twas but a trivial matter,' Garland said, but his wide beam and the smiles from his courtiers said differently. 

'Anything that happens to you, trivial or otherwise, I would like to know of that I may partake in your happiness.'

Clerk Hansen chuckled, and Aurel sat back, feeling pleased. He was getting quite good at being the dutiful and affectionate royal consort. Sometimes he could almost believe his own words. Of course, he could never be a second king, or have any position equal to Garland's, but perhaps someday he could be as good as a queen in the people's eyes.

Because yes, he _did_ know about that little insignificant fact. It was easy to hide away from it in the castle where the common people's gossip did not quite reach, but he knew that even some of Garland's courtiers thought it, and it would be something he would have to face when he went to visit his family. He didn't blame anyone for thinking that, of course, he would have raised an eyebrow too if it was not him standing here, by Garland's side. He just wanted to do his best to prove himself. He might not have much education or be particularly clever, but he _could_ be loyal to Garland and support him.

If he couldn't learn to love Garland, he could at least, he was sure, learn to love his place in the castle.

'It is nothing I would expect the common people to throw a celebration over,' Garland said. He meant it too, and Aurel was always pleased by his sincerity. 'I have merely completed negotiations with the Kingdom Khevia, who have agreed to provide -' Aurel watched him mentally adjust his mindset so as to not bombard him with economic details, '- well, wheat at a greatly reduced price than before. We have always had limited land suited to planting wheat, even more so since that great flood we experienced in the lower lands five years ago. There are so many things we will gain from these new negotiations, Aurel.' He took Aurel's hands in his own and gave him an intense, tender look that made Aurel feel as if he had never looked at him before. 'Ever since you have joined my side, my dear, it seems as if my feelings for the kingdom itself grow ever stronger. I want to build up the kingdom as much as I can, while I can, so that you will always be safe and happy here.'

Aurel smiled and tactfully extracted his hands. 'If you wish me to reciprocate your speech, Garland, then you should not have given it while we are amongst your court.'

'There is no need for you to return my words with yours,' he said warmly. 'It already means everything to me that you are here with me.'

Was it just Aurel's imagination, the way Garland's eyes blazed with more fervour than he had ever seen before? Did he look at him differently, as if seeing him for the first time? Or was it he, Aurel, who was seeing his husband, truly seeing him, for the first time? His heart beat so fast, he wished the meal could be over quickly so he could hide his face.

'Even if your subjects will not celebrate your victory,' Aurel said, turning away from that fierce gaze, 'you and I should. It is the least I can do for you. A little tea party, perhaps? With Clerk Hansen and his wife? I know, even without you saying, how much help he must have been in your achievement.'

'Oh no, Your Highness, there is no need -' Hansen said hastily, before he was abruptly cut off by Garland.

'A splendid idea, Aurel. Or perhaps even something grander than that - but I know how you like things cosy and small.'

'If you arranged a big celebration, I would certainly not neglect my duty and absent myself. I _do_ tend to prefer smaller celebrations; however, the reason I suggest a private party is that I should like the opportunity to converse with Hansen more. I fear that you do not attend to him as much as he deserves.'

'Nothing of the sort, Your Highness,' Hansen blushed. His wife, sitting next to him, flushed shyly too, but Aurel was sure he could detect her gratification at being invited to a personal affair with the king. 'It is only my duty.'

Before Aurel could open his mouth to reply, Garland placed a hand on his arm and whispered, 'I understand your preference for Hansen, my dear, and I compliment the insight which has lead you to it, but perhaps you should refrain from saying anything more for the moment. I have many more courtiers here who I could never lavish equal attention upon, and it would be quite wrong of me to publicly neglect them.'

'Ah ... yes, of course.' Aurel blushed, feeling ashamed of himself, but a sense of triumph soon overcame it. Garland's gaze remained smiling and steady despite his rebuke, and he was proud to feel his partner's unwavering affection, despite his public misjudgements. 'I will speak to him later then.'

Much later. There were other matters to tend to first. Garland probably didn't mean to press him so soon, only wishing to make conversation perhaps, but while they were undressing for the night, he said, 'What did your brother come to speak to you about? He should have called first so that I could have greeted him with you.'

'He seemed to think ... it was urgent,' Aurel said, pensively rubbing his hair with a towel.

'I thought you said it was not bad news.' Garland came to stand in front of Aurel, and gently lifted his hand from his head. 'Don't destroy your beautiful hair like this, my dear. Allow me to blow dry it for you.'

'I am not comfortable with people blasting hot air at my head,' Aurel said with a frown.

'Do you not trust me?' Garland smiled.

'Not with pointing hot air at my head.'

'Very well then, but don't towel your hair anymore. What did your brother say?'

'I ... I fear that you will be hurt.'

'Through no fault of your own, I am sure.'

Aurel narrowed his eyes. 'I was hoping you would say that you would not be, whatever it is that I had to say.'

'It is my greatest wish to be accepted by my husband's family, Aurel. It may be inevitable that I would feel hurt by their doubts in me. Is that what it is, my dear?'

'Lie down with me,' Aurel said, reclining on top of the covers. Garland obediently went around to his side of the bed and lay next to him, scooting close to intertwine their fingers and kiss Aurel's cheek. Although he was sufficiently used to it by now that he did not flinch or make any other objection, he still wished for more space than Garland seemed happy to give him. But a marriage was about compromise. Garland would probably pine if Aurel asked him to keep his distance anymore than he already did.

'I would like to be honest with you, as you have always been honest with me,' Aurel said. Garland's fingers twitched in his hand, giving him pause, but he brushed it off. 'You ... you must have realised that I do not yet feel love for you by now.'

Garland's grip tightened suddenly, urgently, and the evenness of his tone seemed strained. 'Yes, but I was hoping to escape the subject.' He forced a chuckle. 'It is early yet, my dear. If - if you think that you can tolerate me a little longer, could you - could you wait -'

'This is why you should not interrupt me when I am speaking,' Aurel said stiffly. 'I was not going to ask to leave you. On the contrary, I wished to praise you for your kindness to me, and to tell you that I _do_ like you, and commend you in making me happy here.'

'I see.' Garland relaxed, and dropped his head to lean against Aurel's. 'Then I must ask for your forgiveness. I was too hasty in my fear of seeing you leave me.'

'I want to tell you all of that, because ... the thing my brother came to tell me is that my - my parents have been ... unhappy since I left home. I thought your gifts would have helped, and I hope that it still does assure them of your good intentions. They probably feel guilty all the same, however. Perhaps they think I only married you out of a sense of duty.'

'Did you?' Garland said softly.

'That was my initial intention, and it brought me no pain. When I first spoke to you properly, my reasons changed. I may not love you yet, even now, but I felt there was some truth in what you said about us being more whole together. I felt interested in you, and I felt it easy to talk to you, in a way that I have never felt with another person before.'

'Do you think you could love me in time?'

Aurel considered telling him about all the times his heartbeat quickened whenever Garland was exceptionally clever or whenever he was sweet in a way that suited Aurel perfectly. But there were still many things he was discontent with - the mysteries of Garland's past, his place in the castle, his family's concern for him, and not least of all, his doubts about the way Garland treated him in bed - and he decided against it. 

'I don't know. As long as you give me no reason to leave you, then I will stay and let you love me.'

'What if you fall in love with another?' Garland's tone was pleading, beseeching Aurel to give reassurance that Aurel did not know if he could give.

'I do not think that will happen.'

'I see.' It was obvious that Aurel had not helped to put him at ease at all, but he very much made up for it by saying, 'I am sorry I distracted you from telling me about your parents. What do you plan to do to give them peace of mind?'

'I was thinking I should see them, and stay with them a while. Not now - it is too early in our marriage for that to be proper, but sometime soon, so that they can see with their own eyes that I am well.’

‘Would it not be better to invite them here again, so they can see that you are happy here with me?’

‘No, I think they need me to themselves more than they need to see us together. They have already seen us together before. It may have been early in our marriage, but all the same, I do not think more of that will help in the present time. For now, they only need to see me.’

‘Very well. I am sure you know best.’ 

‘It won’t be for a while yet,’ Aurel said sternly to Garland’s too-placid tone. ‘I will be here at least a few weeks more, and I will only be gone a few weeks at most.’

‘I fear that if you leave me for too long, you will not want to come back.’

‘That is a risk you will simply have to take.’ 

Annoyed, Aurel got underneath the covers and turned on his side, facing away from his husband. Garland rose to his feet to turn off the lights, then joined him in bed, wrapping an arm around his waist and pressing a placating kiss to the back of his neck. Aurel relaxed, especially pleased when Garland made no move to ask for anything more from him, and allowed himself to drift off to sleep in Garland’s arms.

-

Just as if he had been given Aurel's death sentence, Garland almost immediately became determined to spend as much time alone with him as possible, to Aurel's annoyance. Remembering Garland's worries from the night before, however, Aurel found himself unable to reject him too much. He had been angry when Garland spoke about his fear that Aurel would not want to return once he had stayed with his family a while, but he realised in the morning that it was a rational fear, and felt sorry for him. 

Early on in their marriage, it had been easy to doubt that Garland loved him. Yet, his sincerity became harder to disbelieve by the day, and Aurel started to feel guilty again. It must be difficult to love someone who did not love him back, who would not give him assurance of even the mere possibility that he could love him back, with the threat of Aurel's departure ever hovering above him. Aurel wanted to comfort himself by thinking of the fact that he reciprocated Garland's acts of affection as much as he could, but he knew that it must only make it worse at times. 

Garland waited no longer than breakfast before jumping his first proposal on Aurel. 'My dear, I know that you said you would like to have a private tea party with Hansen, but what do you say to having one with me alone first? We have had so few opportunities to simply be alone together ever since we married.'

'I beg your pardon?' Aurel said, raising an eyebrow. 'You have had many, _many_ opportunities to be alone with me since we married, and you have seized most of them.'

'Yes, but we have never had an entire _day_ to enjoy ourselves.'

'Can the king find a day to take a holiday?'

'I am certain the people would allow it, if my husband wishes it.'

It was strange. Aurel heard himself think, _I don't_ , and yet, his heart felt pleased by Garland's words. He wondered if he was _really_ becoming used to being the royal consort now.

'What would you like to do on a holiday? I'm afraid if your plan is to stay in bed, then I must object, even if we, strictly speaking, don't _stay_ in bed.'

Garland laughed at Aurel's coyness, and Aurel glared. He wasn't shy about sex, but there was such a thing as modesty. And it was a legitimate concern. Garland had already had him on the sofa and against the coffee table a few times, when he became impatient during after-dinner tea.

'If we have a day to ourselves, my dear, I would like _you_ to enjoy yourself too,' Garland said, shocking Aurel into dropping his jaw. It had never occurred to him that Garland _realised_ he was not always entirely enthusiastic about being intimate with him. 

'Er, um,' Aurel blushed. He felt obliged to remark. 'I - I do like b-being with y-you, Garland ...'

'Yes, but I know you do not particularly _enjoy_ it. Your tolerance does you a great deal of credit, Aurel. I know I am often difficult and demanding. I am always telling you that I love you in the hopes that it will go a little way in making you understand that I appreciate everything you do for me.'

'Oh, er - but - but -' Aurel mentally pulled himself together. 'If I started to find it easy to be with you, would you love me less?'

'Of course not!' Garland looked shocked. 'No, of course not, my dear, I would -'

The dining hall door opened and a servant entered, walked up to Aurel and Garland's place, and bowed. 'Pardon the intrusion, Your Majesty, but you are urgently needed in the office.'

'Oh, yes.' Garland flushed guiltily. 'I will be there in just a moment. Thank you.'

'Excuse me for the day, my prince?' Garland took Aurel's hand and kissed it. 'I doubt that I will be able to tear myself away any earlier than dinner, but depend on my being present for dinner.'

'Alright.' Aurel relaxed into something close to a smile. 'Ignore what I said to you earlier, Garland. I was only teasing.'

'I know, but I hate to think of you doubting me so much as a single ounce. I will always endeavour to assure you that I belong to you, and you alone.'

There it was again, that long, lingering look that Aurel had never noticed before. It was such an earnest, loving expression that Aurel wondered, just for a moment, if it was possible that Garland had come to love him more than he had when they first met. The thought made him feel ashamed of himself, as if he was deliberately falsely encouraging Garland's affections, but mostly it flattered him. He wanted Garland's love for him to be real. It would be ... nice.

For the first time since he had arrived in the castle, Aurel decided to call home. His family, he corrected himself. His home was here now. His father or Nathaniel wouldn't be home, but his mother would be.

When she picked up the phone, he was pleased to hear the sounds of conversation in the background. That meant she was entertaining her friends, which was a good sign of her wellbeing. He wanted to hope that Nathaniel had only been exaggerating their domestic troubles out of spite, his disapproval of Aurel's marriage, or, if Aurel wanted to be charitable to him, out of the desire to make him come home.

'Hello?' Lady Hendry said, half-absently.

'Hello, Mother. This is Aurel. How are you doing?'

'Oh my goodness, Aurel!' The noise of conversation instantly muted, as if her friends had decided to eavesdrop. 'Well, I'm fit as a fiddle, of course. How about _you_?'

'Perfectly happy, naturally.' That was not a lie, since he was making the call outdoors, lounging in his favourite garden chair near the aviary. 'I'm sorry I haven't called. I've been, you know, preoccupied, being married.'

'Well, I won't say that I don't wish you'd call more often, but I understand _that_. When I married your father, I didn't call my parents for months either.'

'Marital bliss is a great distraction,' Aurel agreed. 'How are Father and Nathaniel?'

'Alright, I suppose. They miss you, of course, just like I do.'

'If it wasn't going to be Garland, it would be someone else, and if it wasn't me first, it would be Nathaniel.'

'Yes, that is true.' She gave a little sigh, but Aurel didn't worry yet. It didn't sound like anything more than natural empty nest syndrome yet. 'How are you settling into the castle? What do you do during the day, Aurel?'

'I just talk to visitors to the castle - the peerage and nobility, you know. It's nothing too interesting or taxing, but I like it. Garland says he's happy to see me mingle with people on his behalf, since he's always too busy to do it himself. I just wish he could mingle _with_ me more.'

'Do you feel lonely when he isn't around?'

'Yes, sometimes.' This was stretching the truth almost into a lie, and Aurel hastily added, before the guilt of lying to his mother could take over him, 'Everything is so new and exciting, I feel lost when he isn't around to guide me.'

'I'm sure you're doing just fine on your own, though,' she said soothingly, and he smiled. 'Do you like being with him then?'

'I think I like being a prince, but I'm worried about whether or not you and Father like me to be a prince.'

'What do you mean?'

'Nothing, really. It's just that Nathaniel told me you and Father worry about me often.'

'When did he tell you that?'

'Er.' Aurel wondered if he was allowed to tell them that Nathaniel had visited him. 'A little while ago.'

'Did he call you?'

'Er, er, he ... visited ...'

' _Without_ us! Why didn't he say anything? What was so important that he had to go rushing off over there by himself? And it's not like you're living in some cosy little terrace in the suburbs - you live in the _castle_!'

'He doesn't have anything to worry about,' Aurel said indignantly. 'The servants recognised him, and as soon as he arrived, a footman came to me directly to let me know that they had asked him to wait in the first parlour. We went there when we first came, remember? It's one of the best rooms in the castle. They didn't make him wait at the door or at the back of the stables or anything.'

'Well, I know that, Aurel, but imagine how it would reflect on you if we were all barging in on you at random times! I would hate to embarrass you and make the king scold you.'

Aurel briefly reflected on the fact that he had never heard any of his family use Garland's name, not even to say 'King Garland'. It was always simply 'the king'.

'He would never do that. He rebukes me when I do wrong, but only when it is my fault, and he is always gentle. You don't have to worry about that, Mother.'

'Well, alright then.' Aurel knew he hadn't got to her at all, and it made him bristle with annoyance. 'What did Nathaniel come to tell you?'

'He just wanted to see if I'm doing okay,' Aurel said shortly.

'And what did he find?'

'That I'm better than fine, of course.'

'Of course.' 

She was silent for a few moments, and Aurel dug patterns in the ground with the toe of his shoe. He used to have a perfectly amicable relationship with his family, and now, thanks to Garland, it had become strained and difficult. Alright, as much as Aurel loved them, he had always been aware of the fact that if there was a black sheep in the family, it was _him_. He was quiet and reserved, seldom revealing his true thoughts, but it had never been a problem up till now.

'I'm sure that you really are getting along with the king, Aurel,' she said at last. 'You've always been a capable boy. I won't deny that your father and I have been very worried about you, though. If you have the time, and you think the king would let you, do you think you could come and visit for a while...?'

'I was just discussing that with Garland,' Aurel said, still too irritated to speak as evenly as he meant to. 'I think it would be a good idea, but I can't go now. In a few weeks time. You've had me for 20 years, so you can't expect me to tear myself away from my husband after he's had me for 12 weeks.'

'Oh, Aurel, that's wonderful!' his mother exclaimed, apparently having heard none of his latter speech. 'Come as soon as you can, and we'll be ready for you.'

'In a few weeks,' Aurel repeated, flatly.

'Yes, yes, I understand. Whenever you're ready, just give us a ring the day before and I'll make sure to have your room ready for you -'

'Thank you, Mother, I look forward to it,' he said with strained politeness. 'I have to go now. Give my love to Father and Nathaniel.'

'Of course, Aurel. Have a nice day, love.'

And he had so wanted to ask how she was enjoying the crockery set Garland had given her. At least he would have time to find out when he arrived home. 

He sat back with a sigh. On the one hand, he struggled to be with a husband he didn't love, but who at least knew how to give him freedom and autonomy of feeling. On the other hand, he had got to where he was now for the sake of his family, but they didn't seem able to do more than fret that he had made the wrong decision.

Aurel pondered on that thought with a frown, and fingers tapping along his arm impatiently. He hadn't thought of the fact that he had married Garland for his family's sake for a while now. He didn't even know if they had benefitted from his marriage any further than the gifts Garland had given them.

Some time after lunch, Aurel was walking to the library when he met Garland in the corridor. He was accompanied by Hansen and a small train of clerks, the sight of which made the corners of Aurel's mouth turn up in an amused smile. Garland beamed back, looking flustered and harried. He took Aurel's arm, stopping him briefly to whisper, 'Shall we have dinner privately tonight, my dear? Just the two of us?'

'If you want.' Aurel wasn't fooled by that smile. Garland was agitated to the point of being unhappy. 'Are you alright?'

'All the better for having seen you.'

'Good.' Aurel held him by the arm to press a kiss to his cheek. 'Off you go and be my king. I will wait for you tonight.' 

Garland looked much better for that. Aurel nodded at Hansen, who smiled and nodded back.

Well, maybe he liked being with Garland more, after all.


	5. Chapter 5

'You are such a comfort to me,' Garland murmured, eyes closed and his head pillowed on Aurel's lap. It was much better than cuddling, in Aurel's opinion. It was being close to Garland without feeling like he was forced to share oxygen with another person. 

When had he started to genuinely like being close to Garland? It was whenever Garland did it just right, that was what it was. Aurel brushed his hair back from his forehead, and Garland took his hand, nuzzling it.

'Do you think you could listen to my problems as well without fearing that they are about you?' Aurel said.

'What do you mean?' Garland said, eyes opening with alarm.

'Whenever I try to tell you about something that is plaguing me, you invariably make it about yourself. When I am worried about my place in the castle, you assure me that you consider me a credit to yourself, without realising that the thing I worry about is how I feel in myself. When I tell you about my family finding it difficult to accept you, you make a fuss about fearing that I will leave you, without thinking that I want both you _and_ my family.'

'I see.' To Aurel's shock, Garland serenely closed his eyes again. 'Do you know why I do that?'

'If I did, it might not infuriate me so much.'

'Then I will tell you. If I did not redirect your thoughts to the way _I_ feel, you would never consider it.

For a few moments, Aurel was too stunned to be angry. 'I _do_ consider the way you feel! I'm always - always thinking about what it must be like for you, to l-love me when I don't love you back ...'

'Yes, but out of a sense of guilt, rather than any real sympathy for me.'

'It _is_ real sympathy.' Aurel jerked his knee, and Garland sat up, looking at him calmly while Aurel's blood boiled. 'What does it matter whether or not it is _real_ sympathy?' he snapped. 

'Of course it matters. It means that if you leave me, you will quickly forget about me.'

'You aren't particularly helping that fact right now, are you?’ Aurel said coldly. This was so unlike the Garland he knew, the Garland who would grovel at Aurel's feet and beg with wide, childlike eyes for his forgiveness. No, Aurel realised, this _was_ Garland, the cool and clever king Aurel seldom saw with his own eyes. Just what had he done to make him appear?

'I suppose not,' Garland said with infuriating airiness. 'But I do not know that it would make a difference. What did you want to tell me?'

'As if I'd want to tell you when you're being like _this_.' Aurel abruptly stood up. Garland seized him by the wrist and pressed his palm to his lips. 

'It is trying for me to be with you,' he said, 'as it is for you to be with me, is it not? I am sorry, Aurel. Tell me what troubles you.'

Aurel was silent for several seconds. Without turning around, he said, 'Is there something that troubles _you_?'

'Does it matter to you?'

For some inexplicable reason, there were tears in Aurel's eyes. He pulled his hand away and wiped his eyes as discreetly as possible. 'Of course it matters to me,' he muttered so quietly that he didn't know if Garland heard him. If he hadn't, he thought, or if he simply didn't answer, he would just walk away and go to bed.

Garland stood up and walked around to face him. His smile was so gentle and so sad. 'I am sorry, Aurel.' He tenderly pulled him into his arms. 'I know that you understand the way I feel for you, and I know that it affects you. I just so often feel that ... it does not really matter to you.'

'I think you have had a long day.' Aurel pulled back enough to look into Garland's eyes without stepping out of his embrace. 'I know it is difficult, but ... I am trying. I promise.'

'Trying to do what? Tolerate my love for you? Or are you really trying to love me back?'

'I - I can't love you if I find it so hard to be with you all the time.'

'Why not? _I_ do it.' He chuckled when Aurel averted his gaze. 'Forgive me. Forgive me. Shall we retire for the night, my dear?'

Unable to say anything more, Aurel nodded. They went inside and undressed, and Aurel got into bed. He was surprised when Garland switched off the lights before joining him, even then carefully keeping his distance on his side of the bed.

'Don't you want me tonight?' Aurel said.

'There is no need to try so hard,' Garland said. He must have meant to sound light-hearted, but he only sounded somewhat downcast. 

'I don't think you really appreciate how hard it is for me to be with you,' Aurel said, frosty tone returning. 'I reciprocate your actions and give you everything I have, do I not?'

'You do, indeed. Am I not most shamefully greedy?'

Aurel turned on his side to face him. 'You are upset. Let me comfort you.'

'At the expense of your own comfort? No, thank you.'

'Alright, then.' Aurel got up and kneeled over Garland. 'If you're so insistent on my comfort, then _you_ can do just as I say for once.'

'Oh?' In the darkness, Aurel saw Garland's pale lips curl into a smile. 'Very well then. I am yours to do as you wish, my prince.'

He knew what he wanted. They had tried it twice before: the first time, it had put Aurel in so much pain that he cried out with tears in his eyes, begging for Garland to stop, and afterwards he had simply touched Garland to bring him to climax, unable to do anything more or climax himself. The second time had been better. It had still been too uncomfortable to make Aurel orgasm alone, the short bursts of pleasure always quickly overridden by the discomfort that occasionally blossomed into pure pain. He had liked the feeling of Garland's semen filling him up, though. It should have made him feel like he belonged to Garland, but it made Aurel feel like _he_ owned Garland instead. It had certainly been enough to keep him hard after Garland pulled out, and to orgasm when Garland peppered his body with kisses, praising his endurance before finally taking him into his mouth to finish him. 

'Sometimes - too often - you are too hasty,' Aurel said. He pressed a kiss to Garland's mouth. Garland liked deep, long kisses that quickly became messy, while Aurel liked short kisses with only the occasional bit of tongue to quicken his pulse. It was difficult to compromise at times, but tonight, Aurel didn't think about it. Tonight was going to be about him, and he kissed Garland exactly the way he liked to. 'You can normally make me orgasm, but you don't always _satisfy_ me. Why don't you slow down and try that some time?'

'I'm sorry,' Garland murmured against kisses. 'I know ... I know that I am ... unfair, but you -' He hummed with pleasure when Aurel kissed his neck, pitching into a moan as Aurel bit his skin then soothed him with his tongue. 'You are so ... irresistible.'

'No, you are simply too hasty.' Garland was wearing pyjamas tonight, and Aurel unbuttoned his shirt, kissing every bit of skin that he exposed. 'Try to be patient. It might even pay off.'

'Teach me.'

Aurel tossed Garland's shirt open, then lay flush on top of him to kiss his lips again, running a hand through his hair and over the coarseness of his beard. 'I want you inside me,' he said, and Garland's eyes actually fluttered open momentarily in surprise. 'Soon. First, I am going to take off my nightshirt and lay back, and I want you to kiss me. You know that I like it when you kiss me all over, don't you?'

'It is the one thing I can depend on,' Garland said, sitting up as Aurel sat up to remove his nightshirt. He was breathing hard, but not as hard as Aurel would have liked, Aurel noted with a slight disappointment. 

'There are quite a few more things you could probably depend on if you would slow down enough to notice.' Aurel lay down, and it was Garland's turn to kneel over him. He raised a knee to briefly press against Garland's hardening erection. Garland grit his teeth, a hiss of a breath escaping him, and Aurel realised that he was refraining from pressing against him in order to take it slow. It almost made him laugh. He rubbed against him a little more until he elicited an entirely involuntary moan.

'Please, Aurel ...' he begged. 

'Do you think I could ever make you come twice in one night?' Aurel said innocently. 

'P-perhaps, but not to-tonight. The mere thought of being inside you ...'

'Alright then.' Aurel sprawled back. 'I'm sure someday you'll get used to me enough to handle something as trivial as my touching you.'

Possibly in revenge for that remark, Garland bit down on his collarbone harder than necessary, and Aurel curled his toes into the bedsheets. He loved the feeling of Garland's beard against his skin so much. He had barely been aroused at all before, but by the time Garland reached his underwear, he was finding it difficult to breathe. 

'Are you alright, my dear?' Garland said, nosing his erection. His hot breath against Aurel's crotch felt so good that Aurel arched against his lips, demanding more. Garland mouthed at the fabric, kissing and nudging him until he was keening with need.

'S-s-stop, p-please.' Somewhere in the back of Aurel's mind, he registered that this was not exactly how he had always wanted Garland. In his fantasies, it had always been Garland begging mercy from _him_. Perhaps tonight wasn't entirely about Aurel, after all. He _had_ said he wanted to comfort Garland at first. 'You can ... prepare me n-now ...'

'Tell me the very moment it hurts,' Garland said, then pulled Aurel's underwear down his hips and off his feet. 

He was gentle and slow. It didn't feel good, or even at all interesting, and Aurel commanded him to hurry up.

'I will _tell_ you if it hurts,' he said impatiently. He couldn't be sure in the dim light, but he thought Garland smiled. Garland continued to be slow for a while, then encouraged by the lack of protests, quickened his pace. Aurel focused on keeping his breathing even, until Garland's finger was in past the second knuckle, and it started to feel _good_. He wriggled against the feeling, his breath coming in gasps, until he felt a shock go through his body like a lightning bolt, and he moaned.

'Feeling good, Aurel?' Garland purred. The only answer Aurel could make was to move his hips down against Garland's finger in the hopes of making him touch his prostate again. 

'It feels good to see you feeling good,' Garland said. Aurel couldn't even process his meaning, especially when Garland removed his finger, and Aurel growled his objection. ' _Now_ who needs to be patient, my dear?'

He reached up the bed, took a pillow, then placed it underneath Aurel's hips. Aurel watched him through narrowed eyes and hazy vision. As his head cooled without Garland's touches to drive him into overstimulation, he said, 'I have always thought you were suspiciously experienced at this.'

'I am old, Aurel. Forgive me for satisfying my needs before I had the opportunity to end them all with you.'

'I don't blame you. I just wonder -' He cried out as Garland fingered him again, only dimly registering Garland's soothing tone.

'Some other time, my dear. You need not think of anyone except me with you, right now.'

It might have been a minute, it might have been an hour, before Garland was satisfied with preparing him. Aurel would not have been surprised to discover how ever long it might have been, especially when he became aware that Garland's fingers had somehow multiplied without him noticing. Garland withdrew his hand, and a few seconds later, Aurel was able to prise his eyes open to see that Garland had already taken his trousers off and was rolling a condom over his cock. Once, the sight would have made him apprehensive. Now, he felt eager, and he smiled. 

'What a beautiful smile.' Garland reached down to kiss him. 'You were right. Taking one's time does have its perks.'

'I like it like this,' Aurel managed to mumble.

'Then I want it to be like this every time from now on.'

Garland continued to lovingly stroke his face for a few more moments. It was pleasant, and Aurel certainly would have liked to bask in the sensation a little longer if he wasn't currently feeling so _empty_.

'Please continue,' he said in a whine. ' _Please_.'

'Yes,' Garland said. 'I _do_ like taking you like this.'

Finally, he sat back and positioned himself. Aurel didn't watch him anymore, eyes shut to brace against the oncoming feeling. It didn't feel all that good when Garland began to push himself inside at first, but as Aurel became used to his size and he slid deeper in, he started to ache in a very good way indeed.

'Don't push against me, Aurel,' Garland said, his voice coming out in a raspy whisper. 'I might hurt you. Just ... wait ...' On 'wait', he adjusted his angle, and Aurel nearly screamed as he brushed against his prostate. It was a shame that he couldn't catch Garland's satisfied smirk, but it only lasted a moment, anyway. Garland shut his eyes and matched Aurel's moan as he rocked inside him.

'Does it -' Garland couldn't even muster the coherency to tease. Aurel could only imagine how he must be feeling, buried deep inside his beloved, making him feel so much pleasure.

'My king,' Aurel said hoarsely. 'Move more.'

Garland happily obliged, thrusting into him once, then twice, and Aurel really _did_ scream then. It felt so good, and if he'd had any articulate thoughts left, he might have spared a moment to say goodbye to taking it slow. He couldn't take much more of it.

'Touch me.'

It was a few seconds before Garland could take one hand off Aurel's hip to touch his cock instead. He squeezed, almost too hard, then began to move in more rhythmical fashion. His hand moved up and down in time with his thrusts, both movements becoming shorter and shallower as they neared climax. The feeling of Garland moving inside him, combined with his hand on his cock, was quickly too much. Aurel came with a groan, trying to press Garland's cock deeper inside him and his own cock against Garland's hand in the same movement. Not more than a second later, Garland came too, his fervid thrusts almost painful as he filled Aurel up with his seed. Aurel had never imagined that something like that could feel so good, and he tightened around Garland in an attempt to milk him for all he had.

'You,' Garland panted, almost a whole minute later, 'are more than I can handle.' He slowly pulled out, and Aurel whined again, the sensation too intense for his sensitive skin. He could only lay back, just about drifting to sleep, feeling heavy and content. He was not aware of Garland pulling out the pillow from underneath him and tossing it to the floor, and of him gently wiping up his stomach and his legs, until Garland pulled him into an embrace and kissed him on the mouth one last time. 

'I would ask you if you sincerely enjoyed that as much as I did, but I doubt that you can even hear me right now,' Garland chuckled into his ear. Aurel didn't have the energy to reply, and made a mental note to tell him in the morning that he _had_ heard him. Then, at last, he let himself sleep.

-

Aurel opened his eyes to the first rays of dawn the next morning. Garland slept peacefully next to him, for once keeping his hands to himself - and on the one day Aurel _wanted_ him to hold him. He shifted and became aware of the stickiness coating his backside and legs. Moving quietly so as to not disturb his bedmate, Aurel got up and went to wash himself. There was nothing to be done about the bedsheets at the moment, so he donned his clothes for the day, then lay down on the covers, on top of Garland. 

Garland didn't look as peaceful in his sleep as Aurel wished he did. Aurel lay his head next to Garland's, almost nosing him, and stroked his hair with one hand. 

There were a lot of things he liked about Garland - and there were a few things he didn't. Or perhaps the things he didn't like were just about his situation, and not Garland himself. But even if that was true, that didn't mean he could _love_ Garland.

Slowly, Garland came awake, his eyelids fluttering open with a sigh. He tensed with surprise as he registered Aurel's weight, then relaxed again, turning his head to smile at him. 

'Good morning, Aurel.'

'Good morning. How are you?'

'Well, thank you. How about you?'

'I'm alright.' 

Then, 'Thank you for last night,' they said at the same time. Garland laughed, and Aurel blushed before letting himself relax into a smile. He liked all the places on Garland's face that crinkled up when he laughed, and he could see them all in detail, up close like this. 

'You liked it, and it made me enjoy it even more than I thought possible,' Garland said. He extracted an arm, with great difficulty, from underneath the cover, and draped it over Aurel's waist. 'I was very happy that I could satisfy you, for once.'

'It wasn't the first time,' Aurel mumbled, feeling a guilty squirm as he wondered if Garland had often worried about inadequately fulfilling his needs.

'Will you tell me more about the things that you like me to do to you?'

'Some other time.' Aurel trailed his fingers down Garland's neck, over his chest, then over his arm. He wanted to carefully word what he was about to say, so that Garland would understand without getting hurt. Well, it might be inevitable that he would feel a little hurt, but he could try to minimise the damage. 'Garland, I am not ... angry with you or anything, but ... I think it would be best if we spent a little time apart soon. I feel that ... I cannot fully understand my feelings while I am with you. And I think you need a little time too.'

'I see.' Garland leaned his forehead against Aurel's. 'You may be right, though I hate to admit it. I so very much want you to stay.'

'I will come back,' Aurel said sternly. 

'Yes, I know,' Garland said, and Aurel was dismayed to hear that he was unconvinced. It almost made him wonder if there was something Garland was afraid would happen once Aurel left his side. 'What you said last night, Aurel ... I know you are right. I am greedy, and I am no martyr. I always want more from you, despite knowing that you have given me as much as you can, without thinking that I should simply be content with what I already have.'

'It's alright,' Aurel said hastily to stop Garland's speech. It embarrassed him to hear it. 'I - I don't ... I mean, I'm not ... upset at you for it. Not ... now, anyway. I understand the way you feel. It will be better once we separate for a while ... I am sure.'

'Yes. When I give it some thought, I agree.' Garland moved to get up, and Aurel sat up. Garland took his face in his hands to peck him on the lips, and Aurel placed his hand on his shoulder to make him stay, deepening the kiss. Garland's hands moved lower to circle his waist, and held him tight.

'Would in a week be acceptable?' Aurel said as he drew back.

'Two weeks!'

'Alright.' Aurel smiled. 'I knew you would ask to wait longer no matter what period of time I proposed, so I deliberately asked for less than I was willing to wait for.'

'You know me far too well,' Garland chuckled. 

'I think you know me a little bit too well, too.' Aurel drew back and got off the bed, brushing down his clothes in an attempt to smooth the wrinkles that had formed from lying down in them. 

'Being intimate with someone _does_ help give a great deal of insight into their character.'

'Is that _all_ you are going to attribute your familiarity with my personality to?'

'I do want to say that I have watched you closely every time we are together,' Garland said, throwing back the covers and standing up with him, 'but you are such a riddle sometimes, I feel I cannot credit any of my knowledge of you to it.'

'Am I really all that?' Aurel said with surprise.

'You are not deliberately doing it?'

'No.' He paused, his gaze lingering on Garland's naked body. There was still a little semen staining his stomach. 'I do not like to reveal too much of myself to people, but no, I do not purposefully keep my character to myself.'

'Well, as you have said before, a man must maintain _some_ air of mystery. It makes me feel always interested to know you more and more.'

'But would you be dissatisfied once you know all of me?'

'I am sure I would feel gratified if I felt that I finally know as much of you as I can. Yet, my dear, I somehow doubt that you will ever run out of things to fascinate me.'

'Of course, it is easy to say that early in a marriage.'

'Ever the cautious spouse,' Garland smiled, and kissed him again. Aurel let him linger for two seconds before firmly pushing him away.

'You are going to be late,' he said.

'Dutiful, too. Could there be a more perfect spouse?'

Aurel rolled his eyes, struggling to keep a straight face.

Strangely, almost immediately after that day, Garland's behaviour changed slightly. Aurel had not expected him to be as cheerful and merry as he had always been after deciding to separate from his beloved husband for a while, but he certainly had not expected how often he caught Garland staring at him with a strange, pensive expression, starting guiltily whenever he realised that Aurel had seen him. Then he would beam at him as usual, and it would be as if his peculiar mood had never been, leaving Aurel even more confused.

He hoped that Garland was not feeling his impending departure too badly. But the king was a grown man. If he couldn't handle a slight strain on his marriage, or his spouse leaving him to visit their family for a short while, then he wasn't a fraction the man Aurel believed him to be. 

One of the most surprising changes was that Garland didn't ask for intimacy for almost the entire two weeks. At night, he would simply kiss Aurel and go to sleep, holding him close. Of course, Aurel had no objection to this, and after a few days, he even found it comforting after Garland's odd behaviour during the day. He just wished he understood the reason for it. And once a week had passed, he retired one night to find, to his disgruntlement, that he wanted to be with Garland and was apprehensive of asking. He didn't know what to think of this Garland who was almost a stranger to him.

Fortunately, Garland's mood largely abated after a week, and he stopped giving guilty starts and forced smiles whenever he noticed Aurel looking at him. He wasn't quite back to his over-affectionate self, but a few days before Aurel was due to leave, Garland walked into their suite during tea, before office hours were over, gently took Aurel's hand into both of his own, and stooped to press a kiss to it.

'My dearest, most precious Aurel,' he murmured. 'Would you give me the pleasure of your company for a private dinner between the two of us tomorrow evening? We will have it outside underneath the stars, in the rose conservatory with the delightful little space in the centre to enjoy the sights and smells.'

'O-okay.' Garland looked at him with so much tenderness, Aurel's heart trembled and he couldn't even remember to speak properly. 'I - I would l-like that.'

'Wonderful. Thank you.' Garland stood up straight, then leaned forward and gave him a lingering kiss on the cheek. 'I will anticipate it with happiness. It will be nothing, of course, nothing to everything you have given me, but I hope that I can please you enough to make you feel that I have repaid a little of the debt I owed you from the day you married me.'

'Don't be like that,' Aurel blushed. 'You don't owe me anything. _You_ married _me_ as well, remember?'

'I could never forget.' Garland stepped back and let his gaze roam over Aurel's body, from his feet to his face, still with that soft smile. 'I must go,' he said reluctantly, 'before Hansen finds me trying to avoid paperwork. I will see you tonight, my dear?'

'Yes, you will.' 

Before Garland had reached the door, Aurel took a hesitant step forward. 'Garland ... is everything alright?'

'Of course.' But was it simply Aurel's imagination, or were the tired lines on his face more pronounced than usual?

'Do you promise?'

'Promise?'

'That everything is alright.'

Garland chuckled. 'Yes, Aurel, I promise. I simply ... well, I suppose it is true what they say: you do not know how much something means to you until is is almost taken away. I thought I had learnt that lesson already, but ...' He shook his head as if to erase the words he had just uttered. 'I feel it in my heart that we are meant for one another, so I am sure ... that everything will be alright between us.'

'Okay.' Aurel found it within himself to smile back, though he still felt so unsure. 'Tonight, Garland.'

When the dinner bell sounded, Aurel hurried to the dining hall early and was relieved to be in time to catch Hansen alone before he went inside. He called out to him, and Hansen turned with a welcoming smile.

'Good evening, Your Highness. How are you?'

'I am well, thank you, but it is not _my_ health that I wish to speak to you about. Is Garland - has he ... Is everything alright with him lately?'

'He has been more preoccupied than usual as of late; however, I feel that it is no more than the way he usually is on busy days. Do you have some particular reason to be concerned?'

'So he simply behaves like that sometimes?'

'A little short and distant, but with His Majesty, it is impossible to ever call him disheartened.'

'I see. That is good.' Aurel stepped aside as a few courtiers trickled into the dining hall, bowing their heads to him as they passed. He lowered his voice. 'He has been ... a little peculiar with me lately. So much so that I am almost afraid to disturb him.'

'In what way?'

'I ... don't really know how to explain it ... Usually, he is almost exuberant in expressing his affection for me, and yet ... he has not been cold to me, nor has he been acting as if his affection for me has waned. It is simply as if ... something has made him reconsider our relationship.'

A slight frown furrowed Hansen's brow, and Aurel became aware of the fact that he was entrusting a servant with more than he probably should. But he didn't know who else to speak to.

'Are you worried that something has caused him to stop loving you, Your Highness?' Hansen said in an even softer whisper. 'I do not believe you have anything to fear in that area. He has spoken of you every day since you first met, and does so until now. The entire castle sees the two of you as the very model of a perfect couple, you know.'

'Really?' A familiar feeling of guilt began to creep up on him, but he felt far more pleasure than embarrassment. 'Well, I ... I am honoured to hear that. No, I am not afraid that he is losing interest in me. It is more that ... I think ... he feels guilty for asking me to marry him. I believe he may blame himself for pressuring me.'

Hansen paused, looking uncomfortable. 'Pardon me for asking, Your Highness ... is that the truth ...?'

'Of course not,' Aurel said quickly, and an expression of relief passed over Hansen's face. 'Just ... please tell me if anything happens to him that you feel you should mention to me. I will tell you now that I am planning to visit my family for a few weeks in several days -'

'What?!' Hansen exclaimed, then blushed. 'Forgive me for interrupting you, Your Highness. Please continue.'

'Do you think it a bad time? I feel, however, that my departure is a large reason for Garland's behaviour, so I do not think that postponing it will help matters.'

'I see. You know best, Your Highness, I am sure.'

'I will leave my family's home telephone number with you so that you can call me if anything arises,' Aurel said, stepping back. 'I will wish to correspond with Garland while I am away, anyway. Please do not hesitate to contact me if _anything_ at all arises.'

'Yes, Your Highness.' Hansen bowed. 'If I may say it ... I am very glad that His Majesty has you now, to support him when he is in need of it. There have been times when he was clearly in pain, but none of us could do anything to help him.'

Aurel nodded, and turned to enter the dining hall, too ashamed to say anything. He _wanted_ to promise, if only to himself, that he would always support Garland, but he didn't know if it was a promise he could keep. And he knew that Garland's fears that he would not wish to come back after he met his family, no matter how little he wished to admit it, were not entirely unfounded.

As Garland came into the room and took his place next to him with a loving smile, Aurel wondered which he wished for more: for his doubts to be erased so that he could be with Garland in peace, or that he had never met Garland in the first place.


	6. Chapter 6

As the car slowed to a stop in front of the driveway, Aurel's mouth dropped open, and he gazed up at his childhood home in amazement. He should have realised just how much he had grown into the oversized kingdom castle. His family home looked so _small,_ and he felt like he had grown giant-sized in his absence.

But then, he smiled. He was home, away from the bustle of the castle and Garland's overbearing presence. Here, he could rest away from all the things that had been plaguing him in the castle.

Well, most things. The door opened and his mother took a hesitant step onto the driveway. Before Aurel could impatiently force the car door open himself, the chauffeur came around and opened it, remaining stooped in a bow as Aurel climbed out. Lady Hendry's expression brightened as Aurel straightened up, and he waved at her.

'I will follow with you things shortly, Your Highness,' the chauffeur murmured, and went to open the boot of the car. Aurel let him, and half-ran to hug his mother.

'Oh Aurel, it's so good to see your face!' she exclaimed, hugging him tight.

'What about the rest of me?'

She took his face in her hands and stepped back, critically surveying first his face, then downwards from his neck to his toes. 'I'm glad to see you look well-fed, at least!'

Aurel blushed. 'I've only gained a few pounds!'

'Well, I don't think it's a bad thing. You _did_ always eat too little, no matter what we tried.' She dropped her hands and beamed at him. 'I could swear you've grown taller, too.'

'That would be nice. Garland is so much taller than me, I sometimes feel like using a stool to stand next to him so he could know how it feels like,' Aurel said, moving past her into the house so the chauffeur could enter. As he did so, he saw her face, and was surprised by the way it changed when he mentioned Garland's name. She looked ... confused and discomfited, and he felt a squirm of guilt mixed with indignation.

'Just leave it here, please,' Aurel said to the chauffeur holding his trunk. The man shook his head.

'My orders are to bring your things directly to their places, Your Highness. It would be too heavy for you to lift alone.'

'Very well then,' Aurel said, deciding against mentioning that he had a brother who could probably have helped him. They were no doubt Garland's orders anyway, and Aurel acknowledged that he should probably give him his peace of mind. 'I will lead you upstairs. Just a moment, Mother.'

Garland had handed him into the car that morning with grace and elegance befitting his position, but he couldn't mask the sadness and worry in his eyes from Aurel. As they had walked to the car, hand-in-hand, Aurel had leaned over to whisper, 'Do not look so upset, or people will suspect that I am doing more than leaving for a short visit.'

'Do I look upset?' Garland had said with a strained smile. 'It is only natural that I would miss you.'

'I will be back before you know it.'

Before Aurel got into the car, he placed his hands on Garland's shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. They broke apart after only a few moments, but Garland wrapped his arms around Aurel's waist and stayed with their foreheads pressed together for a little longer. 

'What will I do without you?' he said mournfully.

'You can be my king, as you always are, and make me proud,' Aurel said. 'I will only call you on days when your name appears in the paper, understood? I will look at different papers every day, so that you do not take to hounding just one publisher. Do your best to be big enough for all of them.'

A smile of comprehension dawned on Garland's face. 'You are so clever, my dear,' he said, and pecked him on the lips. 'I will do my best, you may depend on it.'

'Good.' Aurel stepped back and climbed into the car. He rolled the window down and said, 'I _will_ hear of it if you misbehave or bother other people, so be good.'

'I will.' Garland blew him a kiss, and the car drove away.

'Thank you for your help,' Aurel said after his trunk had been placed in his bedroom and they walked down the stairs. 'You have my permission to report directly to the king and inform him that I am settling in. Ensure that you tell him personally, not to Clerk Hansen or anyone else.'

'Yes, Your Highness.' The chauffeur bowed. 'Thank you, Your Highness.'

'You are quite the regular prince, aren't you?' Lady Hendry said, watching the chauffeur walk to the car and drive away. 'It's just like Nathaniel said. But you _have_ always been so ...'

'So what?' Aurel said with a raised eyebrow.

'I don't know how to explain it. Well, let's just say that I'm glad you seem to have adapted to the castle so well. How did you make the king let you go?' She put an arm around his back and lead him to the kitchen, where tea was laid out.

'Well ...' Aurel said slowly, 'what I did was, one day I said to him, "Garland, my family miss me terribly, could I go and visit them for a few weeks?" and he said, "Of course, my dear, and let _me_ take my turn to miss you terribly, instead."'

She laughed. 'Oh, Aurel, was it really that easy?'

'I don't know what you think of him, Mother. He is always perfectly kind and sweet to me.'

'I suppose a mother could ask no more from her son's spouse,' she said, if with a reluctant smile. 'And he's so attentive to us, as well. Look.' There was a basket on the kitchen table, and she picked up a letter from it. 'This arrived here yesterday. It's full of things you like to eat, and other things the king says he hopes the rest of us would enjoy.' 

Aurel took the letter from her and scanned it. It was definitely written in Garland's hand, and he blushed as he read the things Garland had listed as him enjoying. He had always suspected that, despite Garland's protestations to the opposite, the king _did_ know him better than he thought. This, however, was almost embarrassingly accurate, down to him only liking toffee macarons with Darjeeling tea, and rose macarons with strawberry-flavoured tea. 

'Of course, everyone else can have the things Garland specifically mentioned as mine, too,' Aurel said, returning the letter to her.

'You don't want to keep them for yourself?' Lady Hendry said with a teasing smile. 'They're gifts from your husband, aren't they?'

'Yes, which is exactly why I can do whatever I like with them.' He sat down in a chair and relaxed. 'It is just like him to do something like this. Well, I don't mind letting him feel that he's taking care of me even when we aren't together.'

'You don't mind? You don't feel like he's being overbearing?'

'Oh, for Garland's standards, this is practically restrained. No, I don't mind. I'm very glad.' He smiled at the basket. Yes, he was very glad. He might have _wanted_ a break from Garland, but he most certainly didn't want them to forget each other. 'As a matter of fact, I think it's exactly what he _should_ do.'

Lady Hendry poured him a cup of tea, and took out a box of biscuits from the basket. Then she paused to peruse the letter. 'Hm, I forgot to use one of the teas here and just used our usual store-bought tea. What should you eat with it?'

'Anything you want me to,' Aurel said firmly, taking the box of biscuits from her. 'As right as I think it is for him to do this, you don't have to follow his instructions. If I particularly want anything, I'll get it myself.'

'If you're sure, Aurel,' she said, but she looked quite relieved. 

'He makes me sound picky,' he grumbled underneath his breath as he bit into a biscuit. 'I have _preferences_ , I don't insist on having things my way or no way at all.' His mother laughed.

It was a few hours yet before his father and brother were due to come home from work, and after tea and catching up, Lady Hendry got to work on preparing dinner. Aurel helped her because he didn't have anything else to do. He pondered on the realisation that his mother had asked less about his life in the castle than he expected her to. It was like she was skirting the topic. Her words when she _did_ mention Garland were kind, and yet she would look as if she couldn't make her mind up about him. It made him wonder if they were all conflicted about his marriage like he was, instead of as against it as he had feared.

'What would you like to do now that you're home?' she said. 'I'm sure you'll want to see your old friends, for one, won't you?'

'I suppose so.' Aurel had invited most of his friends to his wedding (only narrowly finding himself in time to stop Garland from inviting everyone who had ever been to school with him) and many of them had come to give him their awkward congratulations. They had all avoided his eye though, as if they had things they felt they should say to him, but couldn't. He didn't know if things would be the same between them if he met them now. He hadn't tried to contact any of them ever since he lived at the castle either, and the realisation made him rueful.

Perhaps his mother noticed his expression, because she said, 'I'm sure they'll be happy to talk to you again and find out how you've been getting along, even if you haven't talked to them much lately. It's perfectly normal to be completely occupied after you get married.' 

'I'm just afraid none of them will understand that, not being married themselves.'

'If your friends are truly your friends, they will be glad to see you,' she said soothingly. He tried not to sigh at the typically generic advice. 

They moved to the living room after they finished preparing dinner. His mother turned on the television, giving him the perfect opportunity to sit in silence and think. What _was_ he going to do now that he was home? After busying himself talking to courtiers and servants every day for the past three or four months, he didn't seem able to think of anything else normal people did with their time.

He jumped to his feet at the sound of the front door opening, then immediately blushed, feeling like a child rushing to greet his father returning from work. His mother gave him an amused smile and stood up too. 

'It's probably your father,' she said. 'Nathaniel always comes back later, he loves his work so much these days.'

That made Aurel's heart swell with pride as he followed his mother into the hall to see Sir Hendry. Garland had done so well in placing Nathaniel at the hospital, and it had all been _his_ idea. He didn't realise he was smiling so widely until he saw his father, who said, 'Hello, Aurel. You look happy.'

'Yes,' he said, deciding against saying that it was because of Garland, and not his family. 'How are you, Father?'

'I'm alright, of course.' He patted Aurel on the shoulder, and Aurel couldn't resist a laugh. His father had found it increasingly difficult to show his sons affection as they grew older, but Aurel had eventually realised that it didn't mean he loved them any less. 'It's good to see you. How long are you going to stay with us?'

'A few weeks, probably.'

'No danger of the king calling you away earlier?' his mother said.

'He may plead, but if I leave early, it will be because _I_ miss _him._ I won't do it for the other way around.'

'I'm glad to hear you're allowed to have your own will against him,' Sir Hendry said. Aurel tried not to frown.

'I'm his husband, not his servant,' Aurel said, more shortly than he had meant to. He abruptly turned around and began walking to the kitchen to hide his face. 'Mother, do you usually wait for Nathaniel to get home to start having dinner?'

'No, he comes back too late sometimes, but we always wait until seven at least.'

He was sure his parents were exchanging looks behind his back, but he didn't try to confirm his suspicions.

'Alright. I'll get Father a coffee, then.'

The sight of Garland's basket soothed him. Right now, it almost felt as if the person who understood him the most was the man who proclaimed to have fallen in love with him from the first moment they lay eyes on another. As he waited for the water to boil, Aurel ran his fingers along the ribbons wrapped around the handle, trailing long over the table. Garland had never even mentioned it. Aurel thought he would have been anxious to assure him that he would be provided for even while they were apart. Perhaps Garland had more of a modest streak than he thought. Even if Garland's name didn't appear in the papers for a few days, Aurel would call him soon, he decided. This showed far too much care and kindness to leave unacknowledged. 

Nathaniel arrived home only shortly after Sir Hendry did, and he burst into the living room in almost the same instant in which he'd opened the front door. He looked around the room, and upon seeing Aurel, dropped his bag to envelop him in a tight hug that crushed all the air out of him.

'Let me go, you monster,' Aurel choked, struggling against him. 'I'm too young to die.'

'You're too young for a lot of things, if you ask my opinion,' Nathaniel said loudly, abruptly releasing him. 'Getting married, for one thing.'

'It's a bit too late to say that now, don't you think?' 

'You set a bad example to youngsters. Just today at work, one of the counter girls started going on about how lovely it would be to be settled down already, and then she outright said how lucky _you_ are to be married at your age. I didn't know where to put my face!'

Aurel laughed, seeing his agonised face now. 'You definitely won't hear _me_ disagreeing with her.'

'Just don't try to actually tell her that. Please.' Then Nathaniel relaxed and grinned. 'It's good to have you back. I know you only mean to stay for a few weeks, but I'm going to go ahead and assume that you'll stay forever now that you've returned to the comforts of home.'

'Home is very nice, but you're going to have to clean my room and do my laundry for me to beat the castle,' Aurel said. Nathaniel pulled a face.

'Hard work creates character. Try it yourself.'

He was so much more in good spirits than he had been when he had visited Aurel at the castle, Aurel was immediately cheered. He would have to spend as much time as he could with his brother now that they were both home. He could suddenly remember so many of their old haunts that was already making plans in his head.

'You have no idea how wonderful it is to be with Garland. You'll have to work hard to beat him.'

'There are some aspects I fear I won't be of any help with, but trust me, I’m going to do my best.’

-

It had only taken Aurel a few days to recover from waking in a new bed when he moved into the castle, but now he was back in his childhood home, it took him over a week to get used to waking up in a bed a third of the size with nobody laying next to him. The nights almost felt cold like that, and he was annoyed at himself for missing Garland's presence so much. 

Fortunately, his family did their best to keep him busy and distracted during the day. The day after his arrival itself, Nathaniel invited him out for drinks with his friends. Aurel did not drink often, certainly not enough to satisfy his friends on the rare occasion he went out to drink with them in the past, but he was glad to agree and mingle with company. He was surprised to discover, when they arrived, that Nathaniel had invited some of Aurel's old friends too. They exclaimed themselves very glad to see him, and to his relief, kept questions about his life at the castle to a minimum. Aurel couldn't guess whether Nathaniel had asked them to do so, or if they simply felt it was too awkward to ask, but he was grateful to them for it.

When Nathaniel and his father were at work, if his mother didn't ask for him to help her to prepare for her friends' visits (he was ashamed to find, on the first day she asked it of him, that he felt preparing food and cutlery for guests rather beneath him. He tried to make up for it by immediately throwing himself into the work), he went out and wandered around town. Somehow, everything seemed so different to his eyes, even though it was all just the same as he remembered it. He felt as if he had become a different person.

Two days after he arrived home, he passed by a convenience shop to see a tabloid with the headline 'A Royal Mess! Is King Garland's New Marriage Holding Together?'

Aurel snatched it up and glared at it as if willing for the letters to burn from their pages. How could Garland allow such rubbish to be printed about him in his own kingdom? As he scowled through the article, and at the big red question mark splashed over a photo of his and Garland's wedding day, he almost made up his mind to march into the tabloid offices and demand they withdraw their article.

Then he took in a deep breath and replaced the paper. Of course, there was a law about free speech in the kingdom, and it wasn't the first of scandalous articles published about Garland. He couldn't go and haul the writers over coal for it. That would practically be an act of tyranny from the kingdom prince.

A slow smile spread over his face as he walked away. He never would have thought of a thing like _that_ before he married Garland. 

He called Garland that night, though he had to go through Hansen to speak to him.

'Good evening, Mr Hansen, how are you? This is Prince Aurel,' he said to Hansen's expressionless, 'Good evening.' He knew that Hansen was ordered to alway wait until the other person on the line identified themselves in case someone obtained the royal number who shouldn't be allowed to have it. 

'I am very well, thank you, Your Highness,' Hansen said, his tone instantly switching into warm benevolence. 'And how do you do in your family home?'

'It is pleasant to be back, although there are so many things I already miss from the castle,' Aurel said, largely to comfort Hansen than because it was the truth. 'How is Garland?'

'He laments missing you often, and yet he does not let it get in the way of his work. As a matter of fact, he seems to be working even harder than usual. Did you say something to him before you left, Your Highness?'

'A little something,' Aurel chuckled. 'Only that I hoped to hear he was working hard even while I am away. Could I speak to him, please?'

'Of course, Your Highness. It may take a few moments, however, as I will have to discover where he is.'

'I know where he _should_ be,' Aurel said, glancing at the kitchen clock. 'Having a mournful tea in one of the west parlours on the third floor, the one directly above the clearing between the stables and the kitchen gardens.'

'Very well, Your Highness, I shall check there first.'

To Aurel's triumph, he was right: Garland answered the phone less than a minute later.

'Good evening, my dearest Aurel,' Garland's eager voice came over the telephone line, and Aurel couldn't suppress a mirthful grin. His father, on the opposite side of the table, raised an inquisitive eyebrow. 'How are you feeling? I would, naturally, hope that you miss me, but I fear you feeling pain, so I hope you do not miss me _too_ much.'

'I have not the faintest idea what reply to make to that, so I will refrain from replying at all,' Aurel said, and Garland laughed. 'I feel certain there is no need to ask how _you_ are feeling.'

'Indeed, you already know.' Garland sighed, and there was a slight _thump_ of his head hitting the side of his chair as he slumped back. 'I had no appetite to eat, but I knew I would not be able to think or work if I did not eat, so I simply asked for some porridge.'

Aurel burst into laughter. 'Garland, as much as I appreciate your strength of feeling, I feel obliged to tell you that such neediness is very unattractive.'

'But is it effective?'

'Ah, you have me there. Perhaps on a weaker man.'

' _You_ , however, are strong,' Garland said, sounding quite pleased by the fact. 'So I will not waste too many words on the subject. Well, my dear, so did you see me in the papers today? Although I do not recall doing anything to particularly catch the public's attention.'

'I _did_ see you in the paper, although not in the way I would have wished, and it is not my reason for calling, anyway. There was an article in a tabloid, about my departure.'

'Oh yes, I saw that.'

'You _did_?'

'Someone always ends up telling me about the tabloids, in case they go too far. Alas, such is the price of free speech.'

'I thought so too, when I saw it. I don't suppose telling them the truth would help matters, though.'

'It probably wouldn't,' Garland agreed.

'I almost decided to get into a cab and set them right at once, but I feared how it would reflect on you.'

'I wish you had!' Garland laughed. 'It would reflect a pleasing affection for me, my dear.'

'Yes, but then they their headlines for the next day would be my angry face, and I would not have at them for _that_. Nor would it be right for _you_ to get at them for it.'

'That is true. Your foresight is as austere as ever, Aurel.'

'Well, I think I have you to thank for that. When I managed to cool my head, I realised I would never have thought to be careful if it not for your sake.'

'Oh, _Aurel_.' Aurel could just imagine the way Garland's eyes must be sparkling. 'You are too good for me. Far too good.'

'Anyway, that is not the reason I called,' Aurel said hastily, too embarrassed to flirt back in front of his family. 'I wanted to thank you for the gifts you sent my family before I arrived. You had not even told me that you had sent it.'

'I was afraid you would object,' Garland said innocently, and Aurel clicked his tongue impatiently. 'Was I wrong?'

'No. As a matter of fact, that is precisely why I wish you _had_ told me. There was no need to line up all my particulars for my entire family to discover, Garland. I fuss with _you_ because you like me to. My family should not go through the trouble to figure out what drinks I would like with what desserts.'

'Well, no - I mean, yes - I mean, of course, my dear,' Garland mumbled, much to Aurel's amusement. 'I wanted you to be comfortable, but I got absorbed in impressing you and neglected to think of the consequences. Forgive me, Aurel.'

'You know better now,' Aurel said with sternness. 'You did well in sending the extra things for my family, however, so well done and thank you.'

'It was nothing.' Garland instantly returned to cheerfulness. 'I did not overstep my boundaries there, my dear? Everything well and good?'

'Yes, quite well.' Aurel wanted to tell Garland about his slight discomfort in his old home, the awkward way his friends sometimes looked at him, and the strange new light he was seeing his town in. But he didn't want his parents to hear about _that_ , so he didn't. It would probably only serve to make Garland too hopeful about his quick return, anyway. Or perhaps it wouldn't. Perhaps Garland would be understanding. It was hard to tell with him sometimes. 'I should go now, Garland. If you are good, then I will call you during the day when we may speak with a little more privacy.'

'Alright.' Garland seemed understanding, which made Aurel feel pleased. 'Have a pleasant evening, my dear Aurel. If there is anything you need, do not hesitate to contact me immediately. You may speak to Hansen alone, if I have not been good enough for you to speak to, when you need it.'

'Don't be silly,' Aurel said immediately, blushing. 'That is _not_ what I meant when I said -'

'I know. It is just that if there is anything you feel you cannot speak to me about, or any reason that you do not wish to speak to me ...'

'Okay.' Aurel relaxed. He still felt apprehensive, wondering if there was a particular reason Garland was afraid of it occurring ... but it was probably just his usual fear of Aurel leaving him ... right? 'Goodnight, Garland.'

'Goodnight, Aurel.'

He hung up the phone, and blushed as he saw his parents staring at him. There was a slight, entertained smiled on his mother's face. 

'It sounds as if you have the king right in your pocket,' Sir Hendry said. 

'He treats me better than I deserve,' Aurel mumbled, and fled up the stairs. 

It surprised him afterwards, to find just how much he started thinking about Garland. Sometimes, especially during the evenings, he almost seemed to expect to see Garland in the kitchen or in his bedroom, waiting for him. But he was probably just getting used to life without him. He would be perfectly fine once he had not seen him in a week.

Aurel lay awake almost all night one day, holding Garland's letter in one hand and thinking about him. He glanced at the letter and read a few lines every now and then. Garland knew him so well now: his habits, his particulars, his character, and, not to mention, his body. No one else had ever known Aurel that well. Even if he couldn't love Garland, it would be difficult to leave him, and live with the knowledge that there was someone out there who knew him so thoroughly. Particularly when that person was the king. He knew and trusted that Garland would never use his knowledge of him against him, but _Aurel_ would always know, every time he saw his portrait (hanging in every office and official building in the kingdom), his photograph in the papers, his voice on the radio, or his appearances on television.

A couple of days later, he discovered just how much danger he was in, while he was sitting in the living room with his family on an evening, watching television. The weather man finished with his report, and the screen switched to the news anchor, who said, 'Earlier today, His Majesty King Garland signed the treaty that would open many channels of business with the Kingdom of Khevia,' and Aurel immediately sat bolt upright.

There was Garland, standing in the throne room with the King of Khevia, shaking hands over a document they held up for the camera. Aurel examined Garland's face as well as he could through the grainy footage. Did he look tired or fatigued? It was hard to tell. His smile was sincere and bright though, the lines on his face lifting with the corners of his mouth. Aurel became aware of the fact that he was smiling too, joy and satisfaction filling up his heart. He couldn't forget the day Garland came to dinner, so delighted that he had completed the negotiations, and Aurel had felt so proud of him that day. Watching that footage of him now, his heart beat quickly, and he heard himself think, _Look at my king._

'You really like him that much, huh?' Nathaniel said, and Aurel instantly dropped his smile, whipping his head around to glare at him. But Nathaniel wasn't smirking, or look as teasing as Aurel expected him to.

'I can't say. You guys seem to have a bit of a problem with it if I do.'

'No, no, of course not,' his parents said hastily, and other words to that effect. 

'I did at first,' Nathaniel admitted. 'I thought he was going to get bored of you eventually, or neglect you, or worse. But you like him, and you keep trying to make _us_ like him. Do you think he means it when he says he loves you?'

'I do,' Aurel said. 'I didn't either, at first, but I believe him now. There are so many things ... I couldn't explain them all to you. I can only tell you that I believe in him.'

'If that's the case, then that's alright then.' Nathaniel leaned back in his chair. 'I could wish that you had better taste so I could hope for a more approachable brother-in-law, but I can't say anything else if you're happy.'

Aurel stared at him. He was so surprised, the only thing he could think to say was, 'There's nothing unapproachable about Garland. He has the tendency to be afraid that people won't listen to him, but he's good at being sweet and comforting.'

'Yes.' A smile flickered over Nathaniel's face. 'You've said so before.'

Now truly dumbstruck, Aurel turned his face away as he blushed. He couldn't get the image of Garland's smiling face from the television out of his mind, or stop the rapid beating of his heart. 

He called Garland early the next morning, before his mother even came down to cook breakfast. He knew that Garland would be awake, but he still felt so anxious, he had few polite words for the overnight clerk who answered his call.

'Good morning, Aurel,' came Garland's voice over the telephone line, and Aurel instantly felt the tension drain out of his body. 'Is everything alright? It is a bit early to be on the telephone.'

'I'm sorry if you're occupied -'

'No, my dear, not at all. I was only worried that something had happened to make you call me so early.'

'It is nothing urgent,' Aurel muttered, almost embarrassed to have called him so hastily. 'I - I saw you on the news last night.'

'Did you?' Garland was delighted. 'About the treaty?'

'Yes. You looked very handsome - and happy. I was almost jealous that you could smile so much when I am not present.'

'Oh, Aurel.' He gave a low chuckle. 'If only you could have seen the pain I masked behind my smile. I think of you every day and every night.'

'Me too,' Aurel said honestly. 'When I saw you, I realised - that I m-miss you ...'

'I miss you, too.' Garland's voice was soft. 'When will you return to me?'

'Not yet. I still have almost two weeks promised to my family.'

'Two long weeks.'

'How on Earth will you survive?'

'Would you call me every day from now on so I could hear your voice, perhaps?' Garland pleaded.

'I don't think so,' Aurel laughed. 'My conditions are the same as before. You will simply have to do your best to meet them.'

'I will, I promise. Only ... tell me, Aurel ... you are always honest with me, are you not?'

'Yes. Is there something that has made you fear the opposite?'

'No. It is only that ... that is how I know you mean it when you say you miss me.'

'I certainly would not lie to you about _that_.'

'You are always honest with me,' Garland said again, and to Aurel's great alarm, sighed. 'I will be honest with you too, Aurel. I promise.'

'Has there ever been a time when you were _not_?'

'No ... not exactly. Well, it is nothing for you to worry about, Aurel. There is something I would like to tell you the next time we see one another, though. Will you remind me?'

'Alright. Are you sure it is nothing to be concerned about?'

'Yes, I am,' Garland said so confidently, Aurel was instantly soothed. 'And I very much look forward to the day we see one another again.'

'It is not nearly as far as you make it sound,' Aurel said, rolling his eyes, even as a fond smile spread over his face.

'It _feels_ that far away,' Garland said mournfully. 

Aurel heard the sounds of doors opening upstairs, signalling his family rising for the day. 'I need to go now, Garland. Have a good day today.'

'You too, Aurel. I love you, so very much. There is no one in the world dearer to me.'

He contemplated answering that, but decided not to - not yet. 'Goodbye.'


	7. Chapter 7

Several days later, Aurel was at the town's grocery on an errand from his mother when the greengrocer himself suddenly appeared in his aisle, looking flustered.

'Aurel - er, Your Highness, I might say -' the man stammered. Aurel's cheeks burned with embarrassment. The greengrocer had known him since he was a boy.

'I'm still Aurel, Mr Curtis,' he said. 'What's wrong?'

'Your mother's on the phone for you. She says it's urgent.'

Still clutching his shopping basket, he hurried after the greengrocer to the little office at the back of his shop. He took the phone from the clerk who held it up to him, and said, 'Hello? Mother? Is something wrong?'

'I don't know, I hope not. I just got a call from someone who said his name was Hansen, and to tell you that the king had decided to take a stroll in our part of town. He thinks you should go and look for him.'

'What?!' Aurel said so loudly, the clerk and the greengrocer jumped. 'Where?'

'He said he's only set off walking from the castle, so he's probably only arrived at the outskirts, I suppose.'

'Did Hansen say anything about what he was like?'

'"What he was like"?'

'I mean, how he acted. Was he upset? Did he take any bodyguards?'

'Yes, he's with his guards. Hansen said he seemed to be acting impulsive from high spirits.'

'Oh, that's alright then,' Aurel said, hugely relieved. 'I'll finish shopping before I go find him.'

'Shouldn't you go to him right away?'

'And give him what he wants? He can wait.'

'You know him best, Aurel.'

As he returned the phone with his apologies, Aurel wondered if something had happened to put Garland in such a good mood as to leave the castle. Was he so eager to tell Aurel about the thing he had mentioned to him before? Surely there could be no reason for him taking his outing other than Aurel? 

He left Garland to his own devices for almost twenty minutes before he finally decided to pick up the pace and speed towards the outskirts of town. There was no knowing what mischief Garland could get up to, wandering around town all by himself.

It was hard to tell where he could be, though. The town was large, and Garland could have tried to be coy by avoiding the parts of town closest to where Aurel's family lived. After a few moments of deliberation, Aurel shrugged and settled on simply following his feet. If Garland wanted to see him, he would have to come and find him.

It didn't take much time in the end. Aurel walked approaching the river area, always full of tourists and vendors trying to sell things to tourists, eyes roaming over the colourful shop displays of flags, pinwheel fans, and postcards, when he stopped dead at the door of one of the souvenir shops. Guards stood at either side of the door, and there was Garland, smiling serenely at a shelf of carved soap, trailed closely by a guard and the nervous shopkeeper. 

'Your Majesty, I dare say that your interests would be better served elsewhere,' Aurel called out. He grinned as Garland looked around, then stood back so that Garland could run to him and gather him into his arms.

'My dearest, most loveliest Prince Aurel,' Garland breathed, doing his best to squeeze the life out of his consort. 'You look as beautiful as the day I first met you. Indeed, I feel as if I am setting eyes on you for the first time once more.'

'Perhaps absences are good for our relationship after all,' Aurel said when Garland stepped back, beaming.

'Even if it were so, they are bad for my health. I have been feeling mildly ill ever since you were gone.'

'Well, you are getting on in years, Garland. A little ill health is to be expected, and could hardly be attributed to me.'

'Yes, yes, I suppose so.' Garland took his hands and kissed him on the cheek. 'My dear, how handsome you look today. You look the same as always, but I have not seen you in so long that I have almost forgotten just how radiant you are.'

'I have almost forgotten the way you have with words,' Aurel snorted. He reached up on his toes and touched their noses. 'Are you not going to kiss me?'

'I was only waiting for the photographer over there to get closer,' Garland said. Before Aurel could turn around, Garland held his jaw and pressed their lips together. Aurel closed his eyes, but even then saw the flash of the camera from behind his eyelids.

'Was that really necessary?' he said as they parted.

'It will help the public believe that we are as devoted a couple as we should be.' But Garland's eyes shone with an emotion Aurel thought he recognised. Garland _wanted_ to show off his handsome young husband to the world. The thought made Aurel feel so warm and tingly, he took Garland's arm and spun them around in the direction of the river to distract himself, handing his bag of groceries to a guard to hold as he did so.

'Allow me bring you to the pride of our town, though you almost certainly know it better than I do. What are you doing here anyway?'

'I cannot accept credit for any acquaintance with this area. Though I have been to the river before in the past, I am sure I cannot have come here half as many times as you must have, living so close. As for why I am here ... it is a beautiful day. It seemed an opportune time to appreciate the kingdom I work so hard for.'

'Lying is unattractive, Garland,' Aurel said severely. 'Tell me the truth.'

'Must you ask when you already know?' Garland chuckled.

'I want to hear you say it.'

'Very well, my dear. I am, most naturally, here to see _you_.'

'If you wanted to see me, you should have visited the house. Imagine my mother's delight if the king himself came to visit our humble home.'

'There should be nothing extraordinary about a decision to visit my mother-in-law, Aurel.'

'Indeed. Then why did you not do it?'

'I suppose I was embarrassed.'

'That is difficult to believe.'

'It is the truth!' Garland protested. 'I wished to see you so much, I hardly knew what to do with myself.'

'I can tell you what you should have done right now. You should have visited my home.'

'Yes, yes, I suppose I should have. But what would I have done if you were not at home, and I had to sit with your mother alone?'

'Borne it like a man and a dutiful son-in-law, of course,' Aurel said. He had forgotten what fun it was to be with Garland. He squeezed Garland's arm affectionately. 'Well, never mind for now. I will bring you to do just that afterwards.'

Having been too preoccupied in gazing up at Garland's face before, it was not until Aurel turned to look where they were going that he realised the guards were asking people to leave the area. He frowned. This was not particularly to his taste.

'Do you always inconvenience the public like this when you leave the castle?' Aurel said in cool tones, his hold on Garland's arm loosening.

'Hm?' Garland followed his gaze. 'Oh ... it is customary for the sake of the royal family's safety, but yes, I suppose it is inconvenient, is it not? There are few people here today, after all. It would be a shame to ruin their day.' He made to call out to the guards, but Aurel hurriedly spoke.

'Is it likely that your safety is in danger when you are out in public?'

'It is difficult to say. I do not believe that any of my recent predecessors have been assaulted in public, but of course, they would always go out with guards and take the same precautions. I feel myself to be in little danger, particularly as my excursion is unplanned and unexpected.'

'I would feel awful if something happened to you and it was my fault,' Aurel mumbled. Garland started to say, very warmly, that it would not be his fault, before Aurel cut him off. 'Let's just go somewhere a little more private. It is a working day, so there will be no one there.' Aurel began to steer him down the riverbank, towards one of the smaller bridges that arched the river. 'It is a place only frequented by locals, as tourists are rarely successful in finding it out.'

'If I know my staff, one of the guards is probably holding my lunch,' Garland said, and Aurel laughed. 

'Let us have a picnic, then.'

They walked to a small hill, tucked out of sight from the harbour, yet tall enough in itself to offer a beautiful view of blue and green. Just like Garland predicted, as soon as he and Aurel gave sign of wishing to settle down, the guards whipped out a picnic blanket, spread it out on the grass, and arranged food from a basket over it. Then they stood back and bowed, beckoning them to sit.

'You may stand guard at the bottom of the hill,' Garland said to them, taking Aurel's hand to help him cross his legs on the blanket. The guards left.

'According to my brother, having servants at my every beck and call ruins my character,’ Aurel said.

'Though it pains me to speak ill of my brother, I fear he does not understand your character the way I do. There is nothing that could diminish your sweet and gentle character.'

'My brother would not even agree with your interpretation of my personality,' Aurel laughed. 'But thank you.'

Garland leaned back against a tree, smiling as he gazed at Aurel's face. 'You look so happy today. Is it thanks to returning to your family home? Or ... dare I hope that it is because I am here?'

For once, Aurel took pity on Garland's hopeful expression. 'Yes, Garland. It is because I am happy to see you. That is not to say that being home has not done me any good,' he added before Garland could become ebullient. 'I am very glad to be back here, but I am happy to see you again now.'

'The way I feel on hearing you say that is indescribable,' Garland said softly. 'May I feel assured of your quick return, then?'

'Not really, I'm afraid. I intend to stay here for as long as I planned to. Only then will I return to the castle.'

'Yes, naturally. But you _will_ return?'

'Of course. I was going to all along.'

'Yes, I know. I only feared ... well ...' Garland smiled. 'It does not matter now.'

Aurel picked up the thermal flask put out for them and poured drinks for them both. 'What made you decide to visit me today? Are you so eager to tell me about the thing you promised me over the phone?'

'Hm? Oh ... no.' Garland flushed. 'I feel quite apprehensive about telling you of it, to tell the truth. I fear that it will make you will despise me.'

Feeling so cheerful as he was that day, Aurel doubted it. He was sure it was no more than Garland's usual excessive concern. 'Let us see how long it takes me to forgive you for it this time, then.'

He offered the cup to Garland, who took it with one hand, and held Aurel's palm with the other as he put the cup down. 'I want you to listen to me carefully,' he said with rare solemnity. 'So that you can understand how I feel.'

'Alright.' Aurel moved closer, and Garland put his arms around his waist as if to pull him onto his lap. Then he stopped and looked around at their surroundings.

'There are a lot of a people,' Garland murmured.

'Could this be my king, showing a sense of modesty? I can hardly believe my ears.'

'For you, my dear. I know you are somewhat shy of the public eye. Nor would it do for the public to hear what I am about to say.'

'This seems serious.' Aurel brushed the hair out of Garland's eyes, when movement registered in the corner of his eye. He turned his head and frowned at the sight of a reporter and his cameraman trying to negotiate past the guards.

'I _should_ have let you just chase the people away so we could be alone,' he said. 

'Never mind. The guards will not let them come near.' Garland squeezed Aurel's waist with a hand. 'Aurel ... you will be angry when you hear what I have to say to you, so I will tell you - remind you now ... I love you, Aurel. I love _you_. After all the time you have given me with you, it is truly you who I love. Do not forget it.'

'Alright,' Aurel said slowly. That sounded far more serious than he liked. He sat up and leaned against the trunk of the tree, next to Garland, and consented to Garland taking his hand. Aurel's heart beat quickly, and he hoped he would soon have reason to sigh in relief and exasperation, and chide Garland for making him worry.

'I am sure you have heard by now,' Garland began, 'that I used to visit Sonolia frequently - several times a year - up until more than a year ago now. Did you ever ... suspect the reason why?'

'The ladies thought you had a lover, but they had no reason for thinking so,' Aurel said. 'As for what I think, it did not matter to me. I heard that more than six months before we met, you returned from a visit there in a state of distress. I was far more concerned with the reason for that, than your reason for visiting Sonolia in the first place.'

'You really are everything I don't deserve,' Garland said, leaning his head against Aurel's. 'Sonolia is currently ruled by His Majesty King Keelan. My parents were close friends with Keelan's parents, so I had many opportunities to become acquainted with Keelan and his siblings. Years ago ... many, many years ago, when I was still a child, Keelan's older cousin had an affair with a commoner girl. By the time his family discovered the matter, the girl had her baby, and had become gravely ill from labour. She passed away, and feeling themselves responsible for her child, the parents of Keelan's cousins appealed to the previous king and queen, asking them to keep the child secret and safe.'

Garland's grip on Aurel's hand was tight. Aurel wondered if Garland had ever told anyone about this, or if he had allowed it to prey on his mind all these years. But he couldn't understand, just yet, why it should affect him so much. 

'The child was sent to live with a couple who served the castle of Sonolia, so that the king and queen could keep an eye on her, and it would be easy to keep her ... well, not secret, but away from public gossip. Her name was Constance, and I met her when we were both adults. Seeing us become close, the old king and queen of Sonolia took me into their confidence and informed me about her past.'

'They wanted you to stay away from her?'

'It may be more accurate to say that they wished to make me cautious. They themselves were quite fond of the girl, and they eventually told her the truth about her family.'

'How did she take it?'

'She was badly ill at the time. She said nothing ... but I liked to think that, even if she had been in good health, she would have only thanked them for their honesty, and thought no more of it. Constance was always so carefree and cheerful, her adopted parents often scolded her for being careless. She was always concerned with little more than finding the next thing to entertain her. Sometimes, I wondered if her affection for me was sincere, or if I was simply one of her playthings, but ...' Perhaps it was only the light, yet Garland's eyes were shiny as if with tears. He stared straight ahead, unseeing of the river and the people boating on its surface. 'I never wondered for long. Her unfailing happiness was my light.'

'What happened to her?' Aurel said, and heard his voice come out in a whisper. He didn't like where Garland's story was going, and not only out of jealousy, either. 'You said she was ill ... did she pass away?'

'Yes. That was seven months before I met you.'

'I see. And what happened when you met me?'

Garland turned to look at him. 'Aurel ... your first instinct when you hear what I have to say will be anger, and rightly so, but please ... please ... let me finish my tale before you make your decision. You must not forget that I love you.'

'Alright. Tell me.'

'When I first saw you ...' Garland cupped his cheek and looked into his eyes, 'I could not believe my eyes. You are her very image. I thought ... it was as if ... I felt that ... I had been given another chance with her.'

He sighed and pulled his hand away, averting his gaze as if he couldn't face Aurel anymore. Aurel didn't blame him. He knew he was glaring, and he didn't want to make himself stop.

'I could never marry Constance, because too many questions about her would arise if I did,' Garland continued in a lower voice. 'I thought I could not risk that, and anyway, I was content with what I had with her. We did not correspond whenever we were apart, but it only seemed to make the time we spent together all the sweeter. It made me believe in her affection too, that she did not tire of me even when I was absent for a long time. I regretted that decision after her death. I should have married her. I am the king, so why should I not do as I like if what I like is not wrong?'

As if waiting for Aurel's answer, Garland paused. But Aurel didn't give him satisfaction. He had promised to let him finish before making his decision, and so he would say nothing until he was sure Garland had completed his story.

'When we met, it was like meeting Constance again, and I knew I could not let her escape me a second time. So I asked you to marry me, and I was not surprised when you said yes. If you were really her, you would have no reason to hesitate ... would you? I convinced myself that Constance had returned to me, and I spoke to you just as if you were her.'

'But I am not her,' Aurel said, almost without meaning to, in a small voice. 

'Indeed. You are not like her at all! You are so different from her that you quite burst my dreams at times. And yet, the more I saw you for who you are ... the more I forgot about Constance. Until the day you asked to leave me in order to visit your family, and I realised I had not seen Constance in you for a long time. I forced myself to look at you, then. I made myself look at the man I had so blithely asked to marry me. The more I did that ...' Garland took both of Aurel's hands and held them in his own, though he did not turn to look at him yet, 'the more I realised I loved him. It was wrong of me to assume you were someone else. You are your own person, whole and complete. You are a solid and unwavering presence, always by my side, always making me watch my steps, always honest and true. I could never doubt _you_ , Aurel. You only ever speak your true feelings, and I can always believe in you.'

'Unlike you.' Aurel pulled his hands away and stood up. 'I want to go home now, please. Walk me there.'

'Y-yes, alright.' Garland scrambled to his feet. 'Aurel, is everything -'

'Don't speak to me, please,' he said shortly. 'I don't want to make a scene.' 

He walked briskly down the hill, the guards promptly coming to attention. The curious public stared at them, and Aurel forced his expression into that of calm neutrality, as Garland ordered the guards to clean up and bring them to Aurel's home. Aurel allowed Garland to take his hand, but only for public appearances. He almost couldn't bear the feeling of Garland's warm, calloused palm against his own otherwise. 

'Is everything alright, Aurel?' Garland said softly, once they arrived at the gate of the Hendry house. Aurel nodded to the guards to stay at the gate, took his bag of groceries from the guard, and lead Garland to the door. There, he pulled away from Garland's hand.

'What do you think, Garland?' Aurel said coldly. 'Would everything be alright with _you_ if I told you something like that?'

'No, of course not.' Garland stepped closer. 'Of course not. What I did was unforgivable. But - Aurel, please - you promised not to forget that I love you, remember? It changes nothing -'

'It changes _everything,_ ' Aurel hissed. 'How can I believe you anymore? How can I trust anything you say? You lied to me - so calmly and easily that I never suspected anything. I can _never_ hear a single word from you anymore without wondering if it is the truth, or yet another lie!'

'No, Aurel, this is the only thing I have ever kept from you. Listen!' Garland's tone was pleading, and he took Aurel by the shoulders. 'I wished to tell you because the way I feel for you now is so genuine, and I wished to return the honesty with which you have always treated me. Everything else I have ever said to you is true - certainly it is all true now -'

'I have no wish to speak to you anymore.' Aurel pulled away and opened the door. 'I never want to see you again. If you must speak to me for any reason whatsoever, please send a servant instead. I will not speak to you anymore after this.'

'I am sorry, Aurel.' Garland did not look away, and even with his head turned away, Aurel seemed to feel the intensity of Garland's gaze on his face. 'I am truly very sorry. I hope that you can someday - no, my only hope is that, if you ever need anything from me, you will ask for it. Anything at all.' He took the step down from the doorstep. 'I have loved every moment you have given me. Goodbye.'

Aurel found himself having to strangle the returning 'Goodbye' that rose in his throat. Annoyed and angry at himself, Aurel walked inside the door, and snapped the door shut.

-

'You're back!' Lady Hendry exclaimed as Aurel plodded into the kitchen, keeping his frown concentrated on the floorboards. 'I was afraid the king had kidnapped you back to the castle.'

'He wouldn't have done that,' Aurel muttered on automatic, and wished he could make himself stop. He had no reason to defend Garland now - never had in the first place, he realised. But it _was_ true that Garland would not have done that.

'Are you alright, Aurel?' She tried to peer at his face. 'Did he do something to you?'

'I'm just tired.' He placed the shopping bag on the kitchen table, then turned on his heel and marched up the stairs.

He felt like an idiot. He felt like Garland had taken advantage of him. He felt as if he had been made a fool of. 

A hundred scenarios ran through his head, and he finally settled, with his head buried underneath his pillow, on wishing he had never met Garland at all. But it only took him a few minutes to realise that he didn't really want that. What he wanted more than anything was for Garland to tell him that his story had only been a lie, that he really _had_ fallen in love with Aurel from the moment they met, that he and Garland were meant to be.

Just a few days ago, he had contemplated telling Garland he loved him. As that thought occurred, a lump rose in his throat and tears welled up in his eyes. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing them back. He wouldn't care about Garland anymore from now on. He was young, and he had his entire life ahead of him. One previous sweetheart, one man who had been too old and too much for him in the first place, would be easily forgotten. By this time next week, he told himself, he wouldn't even be thinking about Garland. 

Meanwhile, however ... he thought about the pride in his heart when he had seen Garland on television, and he couldn't stop the sob that rose in his throat. 

When a knock came on his door, Aurel stirred to realise that he had fallen asleep, and night had descended. Nathaniel's voice called out from the other side of the door.

'...rel? Aurel? Are you okay? Did something happen today?'

Aurel simply lay for a few minutes, contemplating opening the door. He knew his eyes were rimmed with red, and he wouldn't be able to stop himself from sounding hurt and angry if spoke to Nathaniel. But he would have to tell people eventually. He had told Garland that he didn't want to see him again, which meant they would soon get a divorce, wouldn't they? Then everyone would _really_ know they were separated, even if they could only guess to the reason. Aurel knew the reasons they would guess too, and he almost mustered up the energy to be angry. 

The emotion lasted only a moment, however. He didn't even have the will to decide if he wanted to speak to Nathaniel and answer the door. Nevertheless, Nathaniel's knocks were insistent, and it was almost sheer exasperation that made Aurel stand up in the end. 

'What do you want?' he snapped, his hand resting on the doorknob. The key was in the lock, so Nathaniel couldn't have unlocked it from outside, even with the master key. 

'Something _did_ happen!' Nathaniel barked. 'Open this door and tell me what it was!'

After a moment of silence, Aurel turned the key. He held the door closed for a moment longer. 'I'll tell you, but you can't tell anyone else for now, alright?'

'Well, I'm going to have to tell Mother and Father why you're sulking up here yourself.'

'No, you don't. You just have to tell them that I'll feel better soon.'

'Yeah, yeah, alright. Open up.'

All the fight and irritation within Nathaniel evaporated when he saw Aurel's face. His jaw fell open.

'What _happened_ to you?!'

'Promise not to gloat,' Aurel said, closing the door after him. 

'What? Why would I gloat? Is this about the king?'

Aurel locked the door again, and threw himself on the bed. It still wasn't half as soft and warm as the bed he shared - used to share - with Garland, his room was still too small, and many of the little things that made him feel so at home in the royal suite were still missing. He wondered if he would ever forget about them, or if he would always feel the absence of all those things until they were eventually replaced.

They _could_ be replaced, couldn't they? He could find another lover after Garland, couldn't he? Or would it always remain a shadow over him, causing people to shy from him, or even worse, be suspicious of him? Or perhaps it would always affect _himself_ , more than anything. He had trusted Garland, even from the moment Garland had asked to marry him. To his misery, the desire to see Garland again, to hear Garland's voice speaking soothing words, feel Garland's arms comforting him, washed over him, and he felt so miserable again, he picked up a pillow and pressed it over his face.

'Tell me,' Nathaniel said quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed.

'You'll say "I told you so".'

'No, I won't. I might have always been wary of him, but I didn't spend time with him like you did. I wouldn't blame you if he manipulated you, and you fell into his trap -'

'That is _not_ what happened,' Aurel growled, throwing the pillow off his face to glare. 

'Don't be prideful, you'll only find it more difficult to get over him. There's no shame -'

'I _mean,_ that he didn't manipulate me, and he didn't mean to be cruel. He - he lied to me, but it was because - because he was hurt and lost and was desperate to feel like he had a place to belong again. I mean ... he shouldn't have done it, but - but - I know he must have felt -'

'He lied to you,' Nathaniel said, cutting him off. 'Can we get to that bit first?'

Aurel sat up, breathing in deeply. He regretted letting Nathaniel in already. He didn't really want to let anyone know the truth about Garland's reasons for marrying him. Part of it was the embarrassment he felt for trusting Garland so quickly, yes, but ... he didn't want anyone else to know about Garland's secrets. Garland had trusted _him_ with them, and no one else. He couldn't bear the thought of the public turning against Garland for it. He was a just and clever king, and a mistake unrelated to his rule shouldn't change people's opinion of him.

Did he think that because it was the truth, or was it his lingering feelings for Garland? He shouldn't be telling anyone else about it, certainly, but would he in time come to do it only out of a sense of duty rather than for Garland's sake?

'You must not tell anyone,' Aurel said. 'You really, absolutely, can't, _ever_.'

'Er, alright.' Nathaniel looked taken aback, as if he was going to ask if Aurel was _sure_ he didn't want to tell the world about what a lying, cheating bastard Garland was. 'Start from the beginning.'

'There's not all that much to tell.' Aurel picked up a pillow and hugged it to his chest. 'Garland told me that the reason he married me is because I reminded him of his p-previous sweetheart, who died a year ago. He said … he pretended I was her for the first couple of months, until he realised that I - I was different from her and began to see me … for who I really am.'

'I see.’ Nathaniel gave it several seconds to sink in. ‘So … now he wants to break up with you because he can't pretend you're her anymore?'

Aurel blinked at the bedspread for several seconds before he could register Nathaniel's words. 'No! He told me the truth because ... he said it was because he had fallen in love with _me_ now, and he wanted to be honest with me.'

'And you believe him.'

'No, I don't. I can't believe anything he says anymore. I didn't suspect anything about his reason for marrying me from the start. It was so easy for him to lie, so how can I trust him anymore?'

'You say that, but you keep trying to defend him.’ Nathaniel shifted, trying to look into Aurel’s eyes, but Aurel’s gaze was firmly averted. ‘Isn't it because you believe him when he says that he loves you?'

'Of course not.' Aurel could see that for sure. He absolutely couldn't believe anything Garland said anymore, not anything he said now or anything he had said before.

'Then it's because _you're_ in love with him?'

To his horror and mortification, tears sprang into Aurel's eyes again. 'No, I'm not,' he whispered, eyes downcast. It was a lie, and a feeble one. 

After another silence, Nathaniel said, gently, ‘What are you going to do now?'

'Nothing. When he's ready to divorce me officially, he'll send a servant to get me to sign the papers, and I - I - I -' Aurel swallowed and scowled viciously. He said a little too loudly, 'I _will_!'

'Alright. It's probably for the best.'

That made Aurel feel angry again, but he forced himself to swallow it down. He was _not_ going to take it out on his brother. 'Don't worry about your job, or about Father's either,' he made himself say. 'Garland won't take them away out of spite against me. I'll make sure of it.'

'I know you mean well, but don't _you_ worry about it either. Father and I can manage, whatever happens. Don't do anything stupid because you feel like you have to.'

'I won't,' Aurel said stiffly. He felt sure, even now, that he could make Garland do whatever he wanted him to do. Garland had turned out to be a liar, but he was still honourable. He had asked to marry Aurel out of false pretences, yet he had never been unfair to him, or really treated him or demanded anything from him anything he couldn't give. 

'Are you going to be okay?' Nathaniel said, his voice gentle. He moved closer to put an arm around Aurel's shoulders. 'Poor brother. I'm sorry this happened to you. I know you really liked him.'

'More fool me,' Aurel shrugged, causing Nathaniel's arm to slip off. 'Just remember you promised not to tell anyone.'

'You're going to have to tell Mother and Father why you're not going back to the castle sooner or later.'

'I know. You can tell them I'm going to stay here from now on. Just don't tell them why. Tell them ...' Aurel sighed. He tried not to, but he couldn't stop himself. He felt that he had been made a fool of, which made him feel embarrassed; and yet, even more than that, he was conflicted between feeling ashamed of how much it affected him, and feeling defensive of his own feelings and Garland's.

Garland had loved Constance deeply, enough to make him desperate to see her in another person. Certainly it was wrong of him to deceive Aurel for that desire, but as Aurel buried his face in his pillow, he wondered if he could really blame him for that. He wondered if Garland had really come to his senses as he had said, and if he, Aurel, could believe now that Garland lov-

'I'm going to go to bed,' Aurel mumbled, replacing his pillow onto the head of the bed with rather more force than necessary.

'It's only seven,' Nathaniel protested. When Aurel ignored this, pulling back the covers and burrowing underneath them, mercilessly kicking at his brother to make him get up, Nathaniel said, 'At least undress first.'

Aurel made no answer to this, either. Nathaniel sighed, and stood up.

'Alright, you need some time alone. Just don't start skipping meals and locking yourself inside your room all day. Then, I will have no choice but to accuse you of being a pansy.'

This did not help in the slightest, but Aurel didn't try to say so. Nathaniel left the room, shutting the door behind him, and despite his advice, Aurel didn't get up to change before allowing himself to fall asleep.

Sometime in the night, he awoke to the realisation that someone was holding his door half-open, and arguing voices were coming from the hallway. He concentrated, trying to listen in, and immediately regretted it when he realised that his parents were talking about him.

'You have to do something,' Lady Hendry hissed. 'I've never seen him like this before!'

'Amelia, what am I supposed to do?' Aurel's father said wearily. 'I don't exactly have the authority to speak directly to the king himself.'

Aurel discreetly pulled the covers up a little higher. He wished they wouldn't talk about him like that. He wasn't a child anymore, after all. For a moment, he almost wished he was, because none of this could have happened to him if he were. He squeezed his eyes shut, and made himself go back to sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Despite his brother's advice, Aurel awoke the next morning and decided he felt too ill to get out of bed. There was nothing wrong with that, was there? Anyone would feel tired and upset after going through everything he had yesterday. He wondered if Nathaniel had told their parents that he was going to stay. That should make them happy, shouldn't it? His family had been so doubtful of his relationship with Garland from the beginning, they must surely be relieved that he had come to his senses. 

He glared at a patch of carpet. There was such an absurdly full, heavy feeling in his chest, as if he had just undergone surgery to replace his heart with a lot of cotton wool. He couldn't believe he was feeling so upset over - over a _man_.

Why had he let himself care about Garland? he thought bitterly. It had made him feel so good to feel that he had power over the king, and like a fool, he had considered himself in love for it. Now - well, now he was just getting what he'd had coming for being that stupid. Hadn't he suspected Garland's affection being shallow from the start? He should never have let himself forget that.

The sounds of his family readying themselves for the day rose from behind his door, and Aurel sighed and pulled the sheets up over his head.

An hour or so later, his mother knocked on his door and said, 'Aurel? Would you like to have breakfast with me?'

Perceiving that it would be too much to start ignoring his family entirely, Aurel called out, 'Maybe later.'

'Alright then. Just let me know if you there's anything you need, okay?'

'Okay.'

His family were worried about him, he told himself. He shouldn't let them worry for long, or it would be even worse when he finally felt well enough to face them. An irrational well of resentment rose up within him. They'd been too worried about him when he married Garland, and now that he _wasn't_ going to be married to Garland anymore, they were _still_ too worried about him. Of course, it wasn't like that at all, he told himself. Soon, when they saw that he really was alright, they would be relieved and happy that he had left Garland. They were only so concerned because he was acting so upset.

Some time later, he heard his mother climb up the stairs and enter a room - probably the bathroom. Seeing his opportunity, and hating himself for taking it, Aurel hurried out of bed without dressing, seized some food from the kitchen, then sprinted upstairs again to eat.

Absurd. Ridiculous. He rebuked himself for acting like such a hermit. But he just couldn't see or speak to anyone right now. It would be impossible to look his mother in the eye and lie to her when he was in this state. It was better if he didn't try just yet.

He carried on like that for several days, sometimes sneaking food early in the morning or late at night. After the first two days, he even gave up on chiding himself. He had tried so hard to make things work, and now that he was all cross and angry and miserable with the world, he didn't see why he couldn't indulge in his feelings a little bit. 

Nathaniel tried to talk to him at least once a day, and sometimes Aurel felt well enough to humour him. His brother was the only one who knew the truth so far, after all. Yet, Nathaniel just didn't _understand._ Nathaniel was glad that Aurel was shaking Garland off, but he seemed baffled as to why it mattered to Aurel so much. He clearly suspected that Aurel had feelings for Garland, although only as a passing emotion from how long they had spent together. He didn't realise that Garland's constant sweetness and affection had made that feeling, in a way, very real.

Aurel woke up one night to someone knocking on his door. He glanced at his bedside clock. It was 2 am. Too annoyed to wonder why anyone would want to talk to him so early in the morning/late at night, he rolled over and tried to go back to sleep.

'Aurel,' his father's voice whispered, surprising him enough to wake him up anew and focus. 'I don't know what's been weighing on you so heavily lately, but Nathaniel told us that you're going to separate from the king. Do you think you'd feel better if you talked to him?'

Of course not, Aurel thought. He was sure that he would not be able to stop himself from slapping Garland if he saw him again.

Sir Hendry sighed. 'I don't know if I could get a private audience with the king, but I hate seeing you like this. Is it my fault? I'm the one who let you agree to marry him.'

All of Aurel's life, he had never felt himself close to any of his family. He had a great respect for his father though, finding his stoic calmness and practicality highly admirable. It pained him to hear that he blamed himself for what had happened. He half got up, an answer rising in his throat.

'I don't know if it'll help,' his father said. 'But I'll do anything I can.'

His footsteps receded away, leaving Aurel gazing blankly up at the ceiling. He hoped his father wasn't going to do anything ... that he shouldn't.

Early the next morning, Aurel rose from bed, washed and changed his clothes, then descended the stairs to the kitchen. By the time his mother came down too, he was occupied in frying eggs, the kettle starting to whistle. It was easy to face his family if he was too busy to look at them.

'Good morning, Aurel,' Lady Hendry said, carefully sounding unsurprised to see him. When he paused to put the eggs on a plate, she hugged him, and ruined her earlier cautious tone by saying, 'Are you alright?'

He nodded mutely, and she won some points back by not saying anything else.

Nathaniel came down after her, and greeted him with nothing more than a friendly pat on the back. Aurel almost wished he wouldn't, but quietly grit his teeth and nodded back. He did turn around when his father came, though. Aurel smiled at him, and to his relief, his father smiled back.

'Can I get you anything while I'm out today?' his father said by way of greeting. 

'I'd rather like some buns from that nice bakery in the town centre, if you could,' Aurel said, knowing it would make him feel all the better to accept some little request.

'I'll get them, and come home early so you can have them while they're still hot,' he promised.

'Are you going to stay at home today, or is there anything you would like to do?' his mother added in affectionate tones.

'I'd like to take a walk to the library, but that's all I'll do today, I think.'

'Do you want me to come with you?'

'No.' He shook his head. 'I'll be fine.'

Then he turned to Nathaniel, to see if there was any little thing he could agree to do for _him_. Aurel was taken aback to see that Nathaniel was eyeing him with slightly narrowed eyes. Aurel hurriedly turned away, afraid of what his brother would find in his face. 

He walked to the library after his brother and father left for work, feeling strangely idiotic, as if it was stupid of him to walk about in the open. There was nothing he wanted from the library, anyway. He had only said he would go to assure his family that he was feeling recovered enough to act as normal.

The librarian gave him a very kind smile and a curiously look that was politely restrained, but not sufficiently hidden to be completely concealed from Aurel's eyes. He wondered what the tabloids had been saying about him and Garland lately. He had been careful to keep himself calm when they parted ways, that day they had spent by the river together, and his family would surely be discreet about the state he had been in ever since. Hopefully, he thought, the papers were still eating up the pictures of them kissing.

Thinking that, he almost felt the urge to find a newspaper or magazine with that photograph in it. Aurel took in a deep breath and calmed himself. There was no reason to do anything like _that_.

Less than an hour later, he returned with two books he had picked at random. His mother smiled and waved at him from the kitchen when he came in through the door, and he waved back before making his way up the stairs.

Aurel stayed there for the rest of the day, occasionally trying to read a page or two of the books he had borrowed, but mostly simply staring blankly at his bedroom walls as he had before. It was still too exhausting to be too much in his family's company, after all. He still needed some time. At least he managed to make himself come down when his father returned, knowing that it would be rude to refuse the food his father had bought specifically for him. He didn't come down anymore after that though, excusing himself to not be hungry for dinner.

He did the same thing the next day, coming down for breakfast, staying to help his mother clean awhile, before he went upstairs again. In his room, he opened the wardrobe door to look for something comfortable to wear in bed, and was arrested by the sight of his reflection in the mirror. Aurel scowled at his pale and drawn face. He hadn't noticed it the day before. Perhaps _that_ was why the librarian had been staring at him, and nothing to do with Garland or the papers. 

In the afternoon, Aurel was walking back to his room from the bathroom, and was surprised to hear the sound of the front door unlocking. He hurried into his room, shut the door behind him, and looked out the window. He could just see the top of his father's head as it withdrew into the house. Beyond the front door, outside the gate, a long black car was parked. Aurel gazed at in curiosity, until he noticed the plate number, and his heart stopped. He hastily drew back from the window, shut the curtains, then sat on top of the bedcovers, hugging a pillow to his rapidly beating heart.

What was the _point_ in so carefully acting as if everything was alright if his father was going to ask Garland to see him _anyway?_ Aurel thought of the fact that he had been cooping himself up in his bedroom like some teenager after his first heartbreak, and blushed furiously with the realisation that he _couldn't_ face Garland. If Garland appeared as if everything was perfectly fine with _him_ , then Aurel would never forgive himself. He wanted to make himself get up and lock the door, but he seemed unable to move. His parents had the house skeleton key, anyway.

Then another thought occurred to him, and he was able to breathe. Perhaps it wasn't Garland at all. Perhaps it was merely one of his servants, come to request Aurel's signature on the divorce papers. His heart squeezed painfully at the thought, even as his limbs relaxed and unwound from their tightly curled position. He didn't like the thought of that, but it was better than facing Garland.

Well, if that was so, he couldn't sit about looking like a tramp. As long as the papers were unsigned, he was still a prince, after all. Aurel stood up, locked the door for privacy, and hurriedly made his bed before picking out something sharper to wear. He combed his hair, then sat down at his desk. It still felt so small after the handsome study in the suite he and Garland had shared, and even smaller than the beautiful oak desk in Garland's office. Aurel realised his hands were trembling, and clasped them on his lap. 

A knock sounded on his door and he jumped up, remembering that he had locked it. It was a several seconds before he could make himself walk to the door.

'Aurel?' His father's voice called out. 'If you're feeling well enough ... there's someone here to see you.'

Keeping his breathing controlled, Aurel unlocked the door and opened it slowly. Instead of looking into his father's lined face as he had expected, he found himself gazing into innocent, ocean-blue eyes in a silver-bearded face. Sir Hendry stood behind him. Garland held a tray of food in his hands, a detail so absurd, Aurel couldn't tear his eyes away from it.

'Good afternoon, Aurel,' Garland said softly. The sound of his voice made Aurel instinctively feel the urge to look up at his face, but he stopped himself just in time. He focused on the bread rolls on the tray instead, a much easier detail to digest. Seeing the direction of Aurel's gaze, Garland said, 'I realise that you have no desire to see me or speak to me, but perhaps for old times' sake, just one more time ... would you share a meal with me?'

What was there to say? The sensible part of Aurel's brain whispered that Garland had come all this way to see him, and it would be ridiculous and rude to turn him away. Aurel nodded and stepped back.

'Your mother and I will be in the kitchen if you need us,' his father said, and left.

Garland placed the tray on Aurel's desk, then pulled out the chair, beckoning for him to sit. Aurel gave a guilty start.

'I - I'll - er, allow me to get a-another chair,' he said, moving to step around him. Garland quickly shook his head, stopping him.

'I will sit on this ottoman, if I may.'

'You can't,' Aurel mumbled to the floor.

'Why not?'

'Because you're the king. Take my chair.'

'Here, my dear Aurel -' Aurel's heart stopped to hear the familiar words, '- I am only your husband. I will sit here while you eat.'

'I thought you were going to eat with me.'

'Certainly. Come, Aurel, sit down.'

He did so, and watched Garland serve him, ladling broth and potatoes into a bowl. Garland placed it on the desk in front of him, then placed a gentle, hesitant hand on Aurel's shoulder, urging him to eat. 

'Your father told me you have hardly eaten this past week. Please eat now, if you feel you can.' Aurel nodded and picked up a spoon, but made no other movement. Garland looked at him for a moment before speaking, in an even more tender tone, 'Please, Aurel. Eat.'

'Why are you here?' Aurel said instead.

'To see you.' Garland sat down on the ottoman, so that he had to look up to speak to Aurel. 'After we parted ... I kept telling myself you would be alright. You are strong - so much stronger than I am. You would never make my mistakes. I wanted to be strong for your sake, so I made myself work as hard as always to be your king. I will always be your king, Aurel.' He reached out and touched Aurel's knee. 'I hurt you terribly. I am so sorry.'

'I don't believe you.'

'I know.' Garland took in a slow, steady breath. 'I know. I have accepted that. But, I - I cannot bear to think of how much my actions have pained you. If there is anything I can do to make you feel better -'

'There is nothing you can do.' Aurel dropped the spoon he was holding and turned around, turning away from Garland's gaze. 

They stayed like that for a long while, Aurel keeping his eyes trained on his desk, Garland keeping his on Aurel's face. Aurel felt as if his face was being searched. Strangely enough, having Garland right there in front of him restored some of his appetite. Perhaps it was the anger bubbling inside him. Perhaps it was filling him with a peculiar energy, or was demanding fuel in order to keep burning.

'How have you been lately, Aurel?' Garland said, his tone returning to docile.

'Not very well, as you might guess,' Aurel replied icily, then promptly took a savage bite out of a buttered bread roll to stop himself from saying anything more. What was it about Garland that had such a profound effect on him? For days, he had hardly said a word to any of his family, but faced with Garland, he was unable to stop himself from snapping. He seldom ever had difficulty controlling his temper before.

'Your family is very anxious for you. Though I was distressed to hear that you had been unwell, when your father told me of it, I was pleased to realise you have a family that cares about you so much. I am glad that you are in their capable hands.'

'And out of _your_ incapable ones.' Aurel paused to take a sip of soup, and felt viciously pleased by the fact that Garland made no reply while he did so, merely waiting for him to continue. 'I have told you before of how opposed my family always were to our marriage. I wish I had listened to them. I am the youngest of the family, and I should have known to heed the advice of my elders.'

'Well, I am older than all of them, save your father who is only a few years my elder, so you might say the same thing about _me_ ,' Garland said innocently.

It was such an absurd thing to say, Aurel couldn't stop himself from bursting into laughter. Garland smiled shyly back, and shifted a little closer.

'Do you remember that night we quarrelled about the difficulties we respectively face in being together, my dear?' he said. 'It was unpleasant to argue, but after that night, I felt that I loved you ten times more than I had ever loved you before.'

'That is because I let you bugger me thoroughly afterwards.'

'Oh, no. Even before that. That was the first time I felt I could truly be honest with you. I felt that I could tell you anything.'

Aurel had never seen it like that before. Now that he had, he realised he felt the same way.

'You _can_ tell me anything,' he said. 'It's just that ... when it concerns me like this ... you can't expect me to simply accept it. That is -' he cleared his throat. 'I _always_ believed you whenever you said you loved me. Even when I thought it was an infatuation that would not last, I trusted that you loved _me_. I cannot bear to think just how much you have deceived me.'

'Yes.' Garland hung his head. 'I understand. I know that what I did was wrong from the beginning.'

Looking at Garland's pathetic countenance, Aurel became aware of how fast his heart was beating. He wanted so badly to believe that Garland's remorse was genuine. He felt as if he was having to physically restrain himself from reaching out and cupping Garland's face with one hand, pulling him in for an embrace with the other. 

'Your things,' Garland said suddenly, looking up at him again. 'You must want me to return them. There is, er, one thing, however ...' He reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a small moleskine notebook. 'I found this in the drawer of our bedside table. It made me very happy to see what was inside it.'

'You should not have done that,' Aurel said, every warm feeling for Garland evaporating instantly.

'No, but I could not tell if it was yours or mine, so I opened it to check,' Garland said meekly. 'May I open it again now?'

Aurel nodded coldly. He knew what was inside it. Garland opened it carefully to reveal the newspaper cuttings folded into the front pocket. They were all about Garland.

'When you said you would look for my name in the papers,' he said, the book resting open on his palms, 'I did not suspect that it was something you already habitually did.'

'I wanted to know about the things you do every day.'

'You should have asked! I never told you because I was afraid they would bore you.'

'And I never asked because I was afraid you did not wish to speak about work after office hours.'

Garland smiled. 'No subject is too taxing to speak about with you, my dear. I would tell you every last detail if you asked for it.'

'The day I met you in town,' Aurel said, averting his gaze again to fight the tremor that threatened to appear in his voice, 'I was ... so very pleased to see you. I was going to tell you ...' He sighed. 'Even before that. On that day we quarrelled, you asked me if I could love you in time, and I stopped myself from telling you about all the times when I felt that I could. I could say that I did not want to raise your hopes, but in truth, I only wanted to tease you. How does _that_ make you feel?'

When Garland made no reply, Aurel chanced a glance at his face. Garland looked crushed. 

'I was expecting you to be happy,' Aurel said, turning to frown at him.

'I am.' Garland chuckled weakly. 'I am - I am only ... only angry at myself for losing you. Not through telling you the truth when I did, but by waiting so long to do it.'

'I almost wished you would tell me it was a lie.' To Aurel's horror, tears sprang to his eyes, but he rushed on. 'I wanted you to tell me that y-y-your story was not true, that you - you married me because you knew ... knew from the instant you looked at me, that we are b-better together than alone.' 

'I am sorry.' Garland rose from his seat, and without preamble or pause, gathered Aurel into his arms. 'I am so very, very sorry, my dear Aurel. My story is true, but - but so is my belief that we belong together.'

'I just don't know if I can believe you anymore,' Aurel mumbled into his shoulder. Garland smelt of soap, tea, and fresh paper. It was such a familiar scent, and Aurel clung onto Garland's back as if to lose himself in it. 

'There is nothing else, I swear to you.' Garland pulled back, took Aurel's face into his hands, and pressed a brief kiss to his lips. Aurel didn't move, and it only lasted a second, but it left his face tingling. He had always loved it when Garland kissed him. Their faces still barely an inch apart, Garland whispered, 'Do you know how I know that we belong together?'

Aurel shook his head, knocking their foreheads against one another. They both smiled, Aurel feebly but sincerely, and Garland gently leaned their heads together. 

'Ever since I met you, I wished to make my kingdom as perfect a place for you to live as I could. Not only that, but you supported me and encouraged me, helping me by speaking to my friends when I could not, partaking in my joys, and comforting me in my sorrows. No one had ever made me feel that way before.'

'Are you sure?' Aurel said. 'Or are you simply forgetting?'

'I am sure,' Garland said firmly. 'Whenever I was with Constance, I focused only on enjoying myself. Being with her was like being on holiday. Being with you ... is like being home. I could go to you for anything, and you would be there. My prince, my pillar of strength and hope.' He pulled away, and brushed at Aurel's wet eyes with his thumb, smiling softly. 'Even now ... even when you are no longer with me, I only have to think of you to want to do the best I can. Even if I cannot make you return to me, even if I cannot make you love me, the thought of you would make me certain of myself. If it cannot make you love me, I can, at the very least, not disappoint the faith you once had in me.'

'Is there truly ...' Aurel let his eyes slide shut, Garland's touch soothing to his hot eyelids. 'Is there truly nothing else you have ever lied to me about?'

'Truly, Aurel. Nor will there ever be anything else.'

'I still don't know ... if I believe you because I can sense that you are sincere, or because I wish so much to believe it -'

'If you ever come to disbelieve it again, then you can easily leave me once more. I would release you. You believe that I would, don't you?'

'No.' Aurel opened his eyes. 'I mean, I do believe you, but it would not be easy. It would mortify me to feel so foolish again.'

'Is that how you have felt this past week? Why should you feel foolish?'

'Because my family warned me about you, and I ignored them, instead working hard to make them accept you. My brother said I should not have blamed myself for falling into your trap, but ...' Aurel took in a deep breath. 'They were still wrong about you in the end. They thought you would grow tired of me and throw me aside. They didn't suspect this.' He rested his arms on Garland's shoulders and directly met his eye. 'I esteem my family greatly, but I always felt they were wrong about you. It hurt me to think I was wrong, almost as much as it hurt me to feel deceived by the person I loved.'

'Your brother was right to tell you not to blame yourself, however,' Garland said. 'You tried hard to make things work. I admire that greatly. I know what it is like to place faith in the people I know. _You_ placed your trust in someone you did not know at all.'

'Don't flatter yourself too much.' Aurel smiled. 'You might as well say it was myself I believed in. I thought I saw something in you the day you proposed to me, and it was my certainty of that which I trusted. Speaking to your acquaintances reaffirmed my belief, so I continued to trust you.'

'You are the most wonderful young man in the world.' Garland wrapped his arms around his waist. 'I would do anything to regain your trust.'

'Well ...' Aurel hugged his neck, pulling their bodies closer. It felt so right, the way people felt when they had spent time getting to know one another, working hard to fit together - and oh, Aurel had worked _so_ hard to make them fit together. 'I suppose you have never lied to me or been unfair to me before. I will overlook it this once. Do it again, and I will _never_ hear another word you say to me again.'

'Yes, Aurel.' Garland leaned down so that their lips only hovered shy of touching. 'Thank you. I know you are everything I do not deserve.'

'Never mind whether or not you deserve to have me. I never thought I would fall in love with someone like _you_.'

'Will you come home with me, my dear?'

'Not yet.' Aurel reached up so their lips brushed. 'But I will soon.'

'I will await your arrival with bated breath every day,' Garland promised, before finally claiming Aurel's lips in a deep kiss.

-

It was quite late in the day before Garland and Aurel found time to themselves. Garland had followed in the car to pick Aurel up in the afternoon, had stopped to have lunch with them, then when they returned to the castle, it was to a celebratory tea thrown in honour of Prince Aurel's return. Aurel was surprised and embarrassed, protesting that he had only gone to stay with his family for a few weeks, when Garland explained, meekly, that he had moped too much in the past week for it to escape the attention of the castle's inhabitants.

'We all knew that it would be Garland who had wronged _you_ ,' Isabella, who had arrived at the castle a few days prior when she heard of Garland's pitiful state, explained. 'It would serve him right if you never forgave him, but of course, we all hoped you would. The castle is better for having you in it.'

'Thank you,' Aurel blushed, but he was really very pleased. He was even happier when Hansen came up to him and bowed.

'Your Highness, welcome back. It is astonishing to think that you have only been married to His Majesty less than six months, when the castle did not feel at all the same without you.'

'I didn't feel myself while I was away from the castle either,' Aurel said in a low voice. 'But don't tell Garland that.'

'Certainly, Your Highness,' Hansen chuckled.

Finally, when all of it was over, Aurel and Garland were allowed to settle down in their suite. Aurel looked around the sitting room with a smile. It was a relief to be back. He never _had_ been able to shake off the feeling that he had grown out of his childhood room, and almost out of his childhood home itself.

'My dear.' Garland hugged Aurel from behind, and began peppering the back of his neck with kisses. 'I am so exceedingly happy to have you back.'

'I can tell.' Aurel turned his head to meet him for a kiss. Against his lips, he murmured, 'Well ... it is good to be back in the lap of all the luxuries that the castle has to offer.'

'Would my lap happen to be one of them?'

'Sometimes I wonder how I came to fall so much in love with you with smooth talk like that.'

Garland chuckled, and turned Aurel around so they were face to face. 'I admit that it may not be one of my strong points. Perhaps I should keep quiet from here on, to play it safe.'

'Yes, I would recommend that.' Aurel cupped Garland's face in his hands. Garland was so handsome in his eyes, and he had missed those innocent blue eyes so much. 'You are a bad influence on me, Garland. Shall I tell you how I know?'

Apparently having decided to obey Aurel's suggestion to keep silent, Garland nodded mutely.

'When we were in my family home, after we reconciled, I seriously considered asking if you would let me take you on my childhood bed.'

'Oh, my dear Aurel,' Garland grinned, promise of silence forgotten. 'You _should_ have asked. No - I am glad you did not, for I would not be able to keep quiet and refrain from disturbing your family.'

'Yes, that is what made me decide against it. If you had a little more self-control, however, I most certainly would have asked.' Aurel kissed his mouth. 'Will you make it up to me now?'

'Of course.' Garland stepped back. 'Did you miss ... me ... at all, while we were apart?'

Aurel raised a coy eyebrow. 'Did you?'

'You know I did, my dear.'

'Then did you ever try to satisfy yourself while I was gone?'

'Should I not have?' Garland said sheepishly. 'During the first few days, it was almost unbearable.'

'Need I remind you that before I left, _you_ were the one who took some strange vow of abstinence and did not ask for me for a whole two weeks?'

'Well, you did not ask for me either.'

'No, I was too shy to. _You_ never are, however.'

'You _were_ too shy to? Does that mean you are no longer shy to ask me?'

'It was early in our marriage, and I was young and inexperienced. It is only to be expected.'

'I suppose so.'

'I _did_ miss you while I was away,' Aurel said, placing his hands on Garland's chest. 'So I will not rebuke you for satisfying yourself, no. I cannot say I ever really _satisfied_ myself, though. I missed your kisses the most.'

'Yes.' Garland held him by the wrist and kissed his fingertips. Small shocks of pleasure electrified Aurel's spine as Garland teased his fingertips with his tongue. 'It was the same for me,' he murmured. 'It could hardly be called pleasure at all.'

'I want you, my king,' Aurel whispered while he could still breathe.

'And how do you want me, my prince?'

'I want ...' Aurel pulled his hand away to steady himself, but it was almost futile in the face of Garland's eyes. 'Garland, would it be alright if I asked you to pleasure me in the way I want before I pleasure _you_?'

'My dear Aurel,' Garland laughed. 'I thought you would never ask. I know you like it when I do exactly as you say.'

'I don't want to be selfish -'

'You would not be selfish. For months, I have taken from you almost more than you were willing to give me. Allow me to give you all that I can offer now.'

'Alright.' Aurel nodded slowly, contemplating the night ahead. He half-wanted the lights off, not to conceal their acts as he had once wished, but to add an atmosphere of mysterious romanticism. He decided against it for tonight, though. Tonight, he wanted to see everything. 

'Go and stand in front of the bed, and I will undress you when I am ready,' he said.

'Should I endeavour to keep silent, my prince?'

'No.' Aurel smiled. 'Tell me if you want me, and I will ... consider it.'

'Very well.' Garland smiled back, then turned and left for the bedroom. Aurel watched him go, affection swelling in his heart even as bits of him tingle with anticipation. He wanted to do this, and Garland wanted him to do it to him. It was the sweetest feeling in the world. Aurel made a mental note to pleasure Garland as thoroughly as he would have Garland pleasure him. He deserved it. 

After a few minutes spent fastidiously cleaning things away, putting back the little things he had brought with him to his family home, Aurel finally allowed himself the pleasure of walking into the bedroom. Garland stood in the centre of it, his eyes lowered to the floor. Aurel had not asked for that, but he liked the submissive stance very much indeed.

'I think,' he said, walking around Garland to stand behind his back, and urge him to take off his suit jacket, 'that I am very glad for the day you asked to marry me.'

'So am I,' Garland said softly.

'I don't know if you realise it, but I was so very nervous on our first night.' Aurel carefully hung the jacket on the arm of a chair before moving in front of Garland, unbuttoning his shirt. 'I felt unsure the whole time, and the next morning, I could hardly look at myself in the mirror. I enjoyed the feeling of having my king at my mercy, however. Now, I know that that feeling is my happiness at being assured that you belong to me.'

'I love you, Aurel.'

'I know.' Aurel turned to his back again and pulled the shirt off, carelessly tossing it aside. 'Have I ever said it back to you?'

'No.'

'If you are good, then I will.'

'In which case, if I take a single step against your wish, please correct me immediately.'

Aurel stepped closer and pressed kisses against Garland's back, tracing patterns over his shoulder blades with his tongue. Garland hummed with pleasure, which turned into a surprised whine when Aurel moved his hand around to brush over Garland's crotch through the fabric of his trousers.

'I felt apprehensive, and almost afraid, the first time I saw your naked cock,' Aurel purred into his ear. 'Now ...' He reached around with his other hand to unbuckle Garland's belt. With their bodies pressed together like this, he could feel every panting breath Garland took in. Aurel unbuttoned his trousers, then dipped a hand underneath the waistband of his underwear to cup his half-hard cock. Garland groaned, and strained into the touch. 'Now I wonder how you would look if I came into your office one afternoon, kneeled underneath your desk, and touched you like I am touching you now.'

'Do _not_ give me ideas, Aurel.' Aurel smiled, at the hoarseness of Garland's voice, and the smile that was surely on Garland's face. 'I would be the next person on the scaffold if Hansen found out.'

'Then we only need to ensure that he does _not_ find out. Would you prefer me to touch you, or to take you into my mouth?'

'Don't speak of it, Aurel,' Garland begged. 'Please don't.'

'That is not an order to refrain from doing it.' Aurel laughed, though it came out slightly breathlessly. His blood was already racing too. He stood there a few moments longer, savouring the weight of Garland's length in his hand, occasionally stroking him with his thumb to keep him aroused. It was probably unnecessary, but Garland's ragged breathing and sporadic whimper was irresistible. 

Eventually, Aurel withdrew his hand and pulled Garland's trousers down. They always opened their shoes inside the door, so Aurel only had to order him to step out of them. He stroked Garland's erection through his underwear one more time before pulling _that_ down too. Then he hugged their bodies together again, so that Garland's buttocks pressed against his crotch. Aurel could only just feel his cock pressed against Garland's skin through all the layers of clothes he was still wearing. He pressed a kiss against the base of Garland's neck.

'Go and sit on the bed. Sit leaning against the headboard, and make sure I can clearly see _this.'_ Aurel ghosted his fingers along Garland's cock, eliciting a small hum of pleasure and desire.

'Yes, my prince.'

Only when Aurel stepped back did Garland move to obey. Aurel allowed himself two seconds to watch him, admiring his lover's broad shoulders and strong legs, before he moved himself. He turned up the overhead lights, then each of the lamps around the room. There were quite a few. After some thought, he picked up a full-length mirror and re-situated it in the centre of the room, a few feet behind where he was planning to stand. 

'I have never been able to climax without being touched,' Garland said, watching him adjust the mirror to his satisfaction. 'But if you are about to do what I think - and hope - you are about to do, I may just succeed, for once.'

'Don't you dare. If you finish before _I_ am finished with you, I will be very upset.' Aurel stepped back from the mirror, nodding to himself. He could see Garland in the reflection, watching him carefully, almost hungrily. His eyes, even with pupils dilated, seemed to be two beacons of blue. 'You are so full of passion,' he said, keeping eye contact with him through the mirror. 'It is almost impressive how you can have so much _amour fou_ at your age.'

'I have much to offer you yet,' Garland smiled. He adjusted his position on the bed, causing the display of his cock to become more prominent. Aurel stared as if transfixed.

'So do I.' Aurel blinked and focused on his reflection. He hadn't cut his hair in a while, so it was longer than he was used to, and the long day had caused his natural curls to become a mess. 'I hope that your ardour will not run out before I am done with you.'

'Even if it does one day, I am sure we have many more years yet before then. My only fear is that you will tire of me when I am no longer able to satisfy you.'

'Hmph.' Aurel began to unbutton his shirt from the collar, pausing to push his shirt open and reveal more skin every few buttons. ' _I'm_ the one who should be afraid that your love for me will run out with your lust.'

'No, Aurel.' Garland stared with his mouth slightly open as Aurel unbuttoned his sleeves. Aurel raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue speaking. 'My l-love for you is pure and true.' Garland blinked and swallowed. 'Your body is only a pleasant bonus.'

'Good.' Aurel slid his shirt off his arms, letting it pool at his feet. Then he frowned at his reflection. He would have thought the week he had spent sulking at Garland, eating only a few biscuits every day in his misery, would make him lose weight. He seemed to have regained it all instantly afterwards, judging from his round stomach. It rather ruined the mood, he thought. 'I should exercise more.'

'I disagree. You are perfect in my arms as you are now.' Garland sighed and shut his eyes. 'May I make a request?'

'You may try.'

'Do you think ...' Garland inhaled deeply, and Aurel watched him with pleasure. How he had missed the sight of Garland's desperate desire for him. 'Do you think that, when you take off your trousers, could you ... let me watch ... as you touch yourself? Not u-until climax ... just let me watch ... like this ...'

'I shall think about it,' Aurel said. He had already decided that he would do it - watching Garland's face as he did so would be a treat - but there was no reason to give him everything he wanted right away. Locking eyes with him again, Aurel unbuckled his belt and unhurriedly let them fall, down over his buttocks and his legs. Someday, he thought, he really _would_ like to take Garland into his mouth as Garland sat in his immaculately beautiful and tailored suit, with only his cock protruding from his trousers. Aurel didn't think he could pull off such a sight himself though, so he turned around and let Garland greedily watch as he slowly and sensuously rolled his boxers off his erect cock, and stepped out of them. He wished he had thought to restrain Garland so he could better see _him_ , but at least Garland didn't try to move any closer from his pillowed position.

'Watch,' Aurel demanded. 'Do not let me see you close your eyes, even for an instant.'

'No, my prince.'

Aurel turned around again, then took himself in hand, carefully watching Garland all the while. 'Keep your eyes down here.' He started to stroke himself, slow enough to be stimulating without bringing him close to the edge. It was a relief after all the sights and thoughts that had been stirring in his mind for the past half hour. Aurel let out a sigh, quickening his pace slightly, and almost hurried even more when he noticed Garland beginning to leak pre-cum.

'Slow down,' Garland breathed. His hand twitched into the air, then he forced it to settle on his thigh. Aurel almost laughed to see how white his fingertips became almost instantly as he restrained from touching himself. 'Tell me ... tell me what you want me to do to you.'

'I want you to come here and kiss me, all over, while I think about what to do with you. But don't kiss my face or my cock.'

'You do not know yet?' 

Garland clambered off the bed, so hastily he rolled right off. Aurel burst into laughter, and Garland laughed too as he climbed to his feet.

'I am afraid that somewhat ruined the mood, my dear,' he said, walking over to where Aurel stood.

'Did it? I love seeing how impatient you are for me.' Aurel held out his arm, and Garland came closer until Aurel could wrap it around his shoulders and lay a kiss against his lips. 'There is your reward for that.'

'Thank you.' Garland's smile was exquisite, and Aurel had to bite his tongue to stop himself from letting him know all of his feelings for him right then and there. 

'There are so many ways I want you right now,' Aurel said, stepping back. 'I cannot decide on a single one.'

'And I fear that I will not be able to survive them all in one night.'

'I think I know what I will ask for, though. I only hope that you will be amenable to it.' Garland opened his mouth, no doubt to say that he most certainly would be, but Aurel did not let him speak. 'Kiss me now.'

Unexpectedly, Garland started at his feet, kissing up his legs, though Aurel soon realised why. He would be able to get an increasingly better view of Garland's body as he moved up. Aurel felt little as Garland kissed his calves, but Garland barely reached the top of his knees before he started to quiver. Aurel stood with his back to the mirror, and every now and then, Garland raised his eyes to look at their reflection.

'You are beautiful,' Garland murmured against the inside of his thigh. Aurel gasped and gripped Garland's shoulder as his beard brushed against his cock. 'A lifetime cannot be enough.'

'Touch my cock without my permission again, and I will refuse to touch you,' Aurel growled. He wanted the night to last.

'Forgive me.' Garland moved up his waist and nuzzled his stomach. 'You look like an angel, my dear. I do not know how you can doubt yourself.'

By the time Garland reached his neck, Aurel felt raw all over, in a very good way indeed. Bruises blossomed all over his skin, and he wrapped his arms around Garland's neck, whimpering while Garland bit down on his collarbone. 

'Does that feel good, my prince?' Garland said against his skin, his beard worrying the fresh bite even more. 'Tell me that I am pleasuring you.'

'Don't s-' They both groaned as Garland's cock brushed Aurel's thigh, and Aurel's cock was rubbed against Garland's stomach. 'Oh, G-Garland, stop, please ...'

'You were just going to ask me _not_ to stop,' Garland chuckled breathlessly. He mercifully pulled away then, and with great effort, stepped back to await Aurel's next order. Aurel paused to regain his breath, watching the rise and fall of Garland's chest with every ragged intake of air. 

'I'm going to touch you,' Aurel said. He couldn't speak in more than a whisper. 'Right here, until you climax. Then ... I want you to lick your own cum off me, and take me into your mouth so you can taste my cum too.'

Garland nodded silently, his Adam's apple bobbing with an anticipatory swallow. 

'But first ...' Aurel smiled, and stepped further back. 'Beg for it.'

'Oh, Aurel.' Garland swallowed again, his eyes fluttering shut until he remembered Aurel's command to keep his eyes open, and urgently opened them again. 'The very thought ...' His hand closed around his cock as if he couldn't stop himself.

'Don't do that!' Aurel barked. Garland's hand automatically unfurled again, and he looked at Aurel with pleading eyes. 'As much as I enjoy your wanton desire for me, you are _not_ allowed to touch yourself against my orders. Hands by your sides!'

'I'm sorry. I - I - I love it so much when y-you take control, m-my prince ...' Garland groaned, digging his nails into the side of his legs. 'Oh, touch me, please. I can never, n-never be satisfied by anyone but you e-ever again. When - when you were away, I t-t-tried to touch myself, thinking of you, and I am sure I s-said your name aloud. P-Please, Aurel, I feel -'

Aurel put a hand on his shoulder and pushed down. Garland took the hint, falling to his knees. The rug was fur, so Aurel was not worried about letting him stay like that.

'Please touch me, my dear.' Garland's voice was raspy, and Aurel basked in the sight of his wide-open eyes, brimming with fervour and longing, even as his own cock ached with need. He clenched his fists to keep himself from giving in too soon. 'My prince. My Aurel. I need you. Even one touch would suffice.'

'Really?' Aurel breathed in. 'Put your lips to my cock, but don't take me into your mouth.'

Garland shuffled closer and did so, lingering on a single spot for a single moment, then moving his head from side to side to stain his lips with Aurel's pre-cum. Aurel watched, fascinated, until his own legs trembled and threatened to give in.

'Sit back and lick your lips.'

To his shock, Garland's tongue shot out to touch the tip of Aurel's cock, before he obeyed. Aurel cried out in what was almost a scream, hands darting out to hold Garland's shoulders for support, hanging over him as he struggled to regain control of himself. Completely unperturbed, Garland tasted his lips with his eyes staring into Aurel's, slowly extending his tongue as far as it would go before cleaning up the mess around his mouth.

'If you make me come before I am ready, I will not kiss you for a _week,'_ Aurel hissed.

'I tried to resist, but you are too much,' Garland said in a whine that was almost convincing. 'I am sorry. Please touch me. Please.'

'Stand up.' Garland stood, and Aurel walked, backing him the short distance to the wall. He was sure that Garland would not be able to remain standing without support for long, once he started touching him. Fortunately, the mirror worked on a hinge, and Aurel only had to spin it so that Garland would be able to look at his reflection and Aurel's backside while Aurel pleasured him. Not that Aurel was expecting him to keep his eyes open for long. 

'My king,' Aurel said. Garland stared at him with a silent plea in his blue eyes. Aurel kissed him on the mouth, carefully arching his body so that their cocks wouldn't touch. 'Won't you keep your eyes open and watch me?' he murmured against his lips. 'Look at your face in the mirror. I want you to see what I see when I pleasure you.'

Slowly, so as to give him ample warning, Aurel reached out, brushing his fingers against Garland's waist. Garland's eyes slid from Aurel's face, to his reflection in the mirror, taking in his wide-eyed countenance, his messy hair, and lips swollen red from kissing. It was a beautiful sight to Aurel's eyes. Garland tried to keep his eyes open as Aurel touched his erection, but he was only successful for several seconds before he squeezed them shut, moaning and thrusting into Aurel's touch.

'Calm, my king,' Aurel said, even though every nerve in his own body was on fire, and he almost felt that he could orgasm just from watching Garland's face and feeling his erection in his hand. His thickness and length was so heavy in Aurel's hand, and Aurel loved it, stroking him far too slowly in response to Garland's urgent movements. 

'Open your eyes,' Aurel demanded. It was a moment before Garland could obey, and only then because Aurel lifted his hand from him. Garland looked at him, letting out a slight gasp as Aurel lapped pre-cum off his fingers.

'Are you ready?' he said.

'Please finish me, my prince,' Garland replied, almost inaudibly. Aurel waited until Garland met his own reflection's gaze, then touched him again, moving faster to match Garland's pace. The sounds Garland made were almost enough to drive him into an uncontrollable frenzy. Aurel bit down hard on his own lip, drawing out blood in his desperation to refrain from touching himself in turn when Garland spilled his seed over his hand and groin.

'We need to switch positions,' Aurel managed to croak after several seconds. He wiped his hand on his stomach for Garland to clean up. 'Hurry.'

Garland pushed himself away from the wall, a slight tremor in his limbs. He smiled weakly at Aurel. 

'Thank you, my prince. Please take my place now so that I may return the favour.'

Aurel leaned against the wall with a sigh, relieved to have support at last. He had come so close when Garland, flushed of face, his eyes screwed shut, threw his head back in a moan that was almost silent as he came. Even now, the memory made him want to tremble with desire.

'I am sorry you have hurt yourself, my dear.' Garland kissed him, licking up the blood and soothing Aurel's lips with his tongue. Then he settled down on his knees, gazing at Aurel's cock with happy anticipation. Aurel curled his toes into the carpet as Garland leisurely cleaned him of semen as if savouring every mouthful.

'I can't last long, Garland,' Aurel said in almost a squeak. 

'Hm,' Garland said in response. He tongued cum off the area around Aurel's cock, and Aurel wanted to scream in protest. He only teased him for two seconds, however. Finally, finally, he took Aurel's length into his mouth.

If he'd had a single coherent thought left, Aurel might have wished he could take a picture of Garland with his lips wrapped around Aurel's cock, eyes looking up at him almost innocently. He didn't mean to do it, but Aurel found himself unable to hold back from thrusting into Garland's mouth, the warm wetness too inviting to resist. 

Aurel forced his eyes open so he could catch a single glimpse of himself in the mirror. His mouth was even redder than Garland's had been, hanging half-open in panting breaths. What was visible of his stomach glistened with Garland's saliva, and then there was the sight of Garland's silver head, moving on Aurel's cock, lavishing him with the attention he craved.

One last remnant of his consciousness made Aurel say, 'Are y-y-you s-sure you can s-swallow?' Garland blinked up at him, then gave the base of his cock a gentle squeeze and applied more suction to his cock in reply. It was the final touch Aurel needed. Assured that Garland would meet him, Aurel groaned, arching his back as he released his seed into Garland's mouth.

Some time later, he knew not how long, Aurel came back to himself, and to the realisation that Garland was holding him up. He let out a contented sigh and leaned further into Garland's embrace, causing Garland to stagger backwards with the effort of supporting them both. 

'Are you alright then, my dear?' Garland said softly. 'That is the third time I have asked you that. I hope you can hear me now.'

'I think I need you to carry me to bed,' Aurel said sleepily.

'Your wish is my command, my prince.' Garland scooped him up and brought him to the other end of the room, gently laying him underneath the covers. Aurel let out another drowsy mumble when Garland settled down next to him after dimming all the lights. 

'My beautiful prince,' Garland chuckled. 'I love you so much. I am so happy to have you back with me. I swear to you, I will never give you reason to leave me again.'

'Shut up,' Aurel said. Garland kissed his forehead, then lay back, holding their joined hands to his chest. 

'Remind me,' Aurel sighed after a few seconds, having recovered more of his consciousness, 'not to do that again for a while.'

'Did you not like it?' Garland said, jerking to anxious alertness.

'I loved it. It was simply far too much.'

'Oh, yes.' Garland let out a breath of laughter. 'It was very good, was it not? Thank you, my dear.'

'Thank _you._ For letting me do just as I liked to you.'

'You still let me come first, in the end, though you said you wanted to be selfish tonight.'

'Well, that is what I wanted.' Aurel blinked and opened his eyes fully, although he could only barely see Garland's outline in the dark. 'Garland ...'

'Yes, Aurel?'

There were too many things Aurel couldn't say. He didn't know how to say he was afraid of being too self-centred, of being too young or not enough for Garland ... of finding something else to quarrel about again. But perhaps now was not the time. Aurel released a deep exhale, and tipped his head forward to meet Garland's.

'I love you.'

Even in the dark, Garland's smile seemed to shine with the light of the sun. Aurel smiled back shyly, though it was surely invisible to Garland, feeling as if his entire body was humming with happiness.

'I love you too, Aurel.'


End file.
